Blue Hen alumni care for New Jersey’s Gov. Corzine

An ordinary Thursday evening in April changed abruptly for six UD alumni when New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, critically injured in a car accident, was brought by helicopter to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J.

The UD graduates, each with very different jobs throughout the hospital, played an integral part in the care of the governor during his 18-day hospitalization. The national spotlight focused on the doctor who was responsible for saving the governor’s life when he arrived at Cooper.

“When the flight crew told me it was the governor, I didn’t believe them,” says Dr. Steven Ross, AS ’72, chief of the hospital’s trauma unit. A member of the crew that night was Carla Sangataldo, CHS ’97, the flight nurse in the helicopter.

Ross, who was waiting on the Cooper helipad, spoke briefly with the governor before placing him on a ventilator to help him breathe. Corzine would undergo three surgeries and spend 11 days in the trauma intensive care unit with 15 broken bones throughout his body.

“He was lucky to be alive,” says Ross, who has been head of the trauma unit since 1985. Ross and his trauma team treat more than 2,500 victims a year, many of whom have been involved in car accidents, shootings and falls. “I am an adrenaline junkie and chose a career in trauma surgery for the challenge and mystery each case presents,” Ross says.

Only moments after the call came in that the injured governor was on his way to Cooper, Ross quickly alerted the hospital’s public relations staff to “keep the media out of my way so I could concentrate on the patient.” Lori Tangredi Shaffer, AS ’99, manager of media relations at Cooper, was on her way home when her pager and cell phone started ringing nonstop.

Rushing back to the hospital, Shaffer immediately met with the hospital administration and the governor’s staff to devise a plan to distribute medical information to the truckloads of media already swarming onto the front lawn
of the hospital.

For three weeks, Shaffer and Kathleen Quinn McLaughlin, AS ’84, another public relations professional at the hospital, divided their time with their colleagues in speaking with members of the press, who camped out in the lobby of the hospital for the duration of the governor’s stay. They arranged press conferences for the physicians and governor’s staff and worked on positive medical stories for the hospital with the largest media
outlets in the world, including The New York Times and ABC’s Good Morning America.

After the first few days, Corzine began his recovery, and two more UD alumni joined his care team. “I first met the governor while he was in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit and on a ventilator,” says Michelle Byrne Fearon, CHS ’04, a dietitian at the hospital. She assessed Corzine’s nutritional status, determined his caloric and protein needs and monitored his tube feeding tolerance.

Once he was removed from the ventilator, she met with the governor to discuss food preferences to ensure sufficient nutrient intake, optimize strength and further promote the rebuilding process.

Eleven days later, Corzine was moved to a general patient floor where another Cooper dietitian, Jillian Golan, CHS ’99, took over. She worked with him to create a more normal diet for his recovery.

“It was important for me to monitor his blood levels and make sure he was getting enough protein and vitamins,” Golan says. “Particularly for our many trauma victims, we watch closely to make sure they are gaining strength and energy through their food.”

Eighteen days later, the governor was discharged through the front doors of the hospital waving to the media and hospital employees.

“I could not be more grateful for the support I’ve had from all the people of the state, my family, the medical people, the people that rescued me,” Corzine said in his brief remarks. “I don’t think people understand how much people care about others and reach out to support them, and I just want to make sure that I say thank you.”