Cooper University Health Care recently welcomed four new military team members who will be stationed at Cooper as part of the Army Medical Department Military-Civilian Trauma Team Training, or AMCT3, Program.
The four new team members are physician assistant Capt. John Maitha, trauma surgeon Maj. Robert DesPain, emergency medicine physician Maj. Michael Lajeunesse and paramedic Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Hayen. They will be embedded at Cooper for three years as part of the AMCT3 program, which is designed to give Army medical soldiers exposure to more severe trauma and surgical patients than they typically experience in a military treatment facility, as part of the Army’s battlefield readiness training. In 2018, Cooper was the first hospital in the nation to establish an AMCT3 program.
AMCT3 team members work alongside Cooper team members providing care to patients and the community.
“We are delighted to welcome these four Army medical professionals to our team,” Dr. John Chovanes, chief military surgeon and trauma surgeon for Cooper University Health Care’s Section of Military, Diplomatic, and Field Surgical Affairs, said. “We look forward to having them training and working alongside of us in the busiest trauma center in the region.”
The new team members will join the five other military personnel currently embedded at Cooper, nearly doubling the complement of soldiers training at Cooper as part of the program at this time.
Cooper is the only Level I Trauma Center for all southern New Jersey and is one of the busiest trauma centers in the region. Due to its high-volume trauma center and expertise in surgery and critical care, Cooper provides a wide range of military, diplomatic and field affairs training programs. Cooper is the only hospital in the U.S. that has trained elite medical providers from every U.S. military branch; multiple local, state and federal government agencies; and international partners.
