Cooper University Health Care, Virtua Health, the Camden County Freeholder Board, and Camden County Health Department have collaborated to open a new drive-up coronavirus (COVID-19) testing site in the city of Camden beginning April 1.
“We are proud to work with two of our outstanding regional health systems, Cooper and Virtua, to open this new COVID-19 testing site to serve the needs of the citizens of Camden County,” said Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. “As the entire country and state continues to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important county residents have access and opportunity to testing. This initiative combined with social distancing and other mitigation factors will help us break the back of this virus.”
The testing site will be set up in Cooper’s Poynt Waterfront Park, 801 Delaware Ave. in Camden City and will be open Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m., through April 15.
U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross thanked the Board, Cooper, and Virtua for their dedication to the people of Camden County.
“As South Jersey health care providers are working around the clock to keep residents safe, our community is coming together to provide needed resources and I thank Cooper and Virtua for joining with Camden County to open this new COVID-19 testing site,” Norcross said. “This new location will provide testing for symptomatic residents at a crucial point in our response. I’m grateful for the bravery of our local health care professionals who are on the front lines, testing and working to slow the spread of the virus and save lives.”
The testing site is open to county residents, by appointment only, who have symptoms and meet other criteria, and who have received a referral for testing from a medical provider (at Cooper, Virtua, CamCare, or other provider).
“We must all continue to work together to face this unprecedented challenge, and this expanded testing site is an important part of that response,” said Virtua Health President and CEO Dennis W. Pullin, FACHE. “We commend our care teams for their selfless actions and thank them for their heroic work. Together, we will find our way through this crisis.” In addition to this joint testing location, Virtua performs COVID-19 testing at its five hospitals and operates a by-appointment drive-thru clinic prioritized for symptomatic healthcare workers and first responders.
“This is great news for the residents of Camden. Testing locations, which require you to drive through, can be difficult to access for those who do not have a car,” said Kevin O’Dowd, JD, Co-President/CEO of Cooper. “This new location will provide an easy, convenient location for individuals to drive or walk-up and have samples collected for quick COVID-19 testing to help slow the spread of this virus.”
“Community testing is so important in limiting the spread of COVID-19, and this collaboration will significantly increase the number of people tested in the city and county,” said Anthony Mazzarelli, MD, JD, MBE, Co-President/CEO of Cooper.
Cooper also operates a community based COVID-19 testing collection site in Cherry Hill and performs tests for hospitalized patients and Cooper staff through its own medical laboratory.
Cooper’s Ferry Partnership also collaborated with the two healthcare institutions and the county department of health to facilitate the mobile testing site.
