This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

'Genius Grant' Doctor Delivering CCC Commencement Address on May 17

A doctor whose innovative approaches to delivering healthcare to the poorest residents of perhaps the poorest city in the United States will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Camden County College graduation ceremony. Jeffrey Brenner, M.D., a primary-care physician who serves as executive director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers (CCHP), will address the Class of 2014 during CCC’s 46th annual commencement exercises on May 17.

Approximately 1,500 associate degrees and academic certificates will be conferred during the ceremony. The event will begin at 10 a.m. in the Truman Courtyard on CCC’s Blackwood Campus, which is located at College Drive and Peter Cheeseman Road in Gloucester Township. More than 5,000 attendees are expected.

Brenner, a resident of Philadelphia, founded the CCHP in 2003 with the mission “to improve the health status of all Camden residents by increasing the capacity, quality and access of care” within the city. Last year, his cooperative-care initiatives earned him a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the five-year, $625,000 “genius grant” that goes along with it.

The MacArthur Foundation lauded Brenner’s team approach to identifying, visiting and earning the trust of high-risk patients, offering them access to clinical services and addressing possible medical complications and social needs in advance in order to reduce repeat hospital visits and stays and healthcare costs. He is working to bring the Camden model to 10 additional communities across the United States, thus contributing to national healthcare reform.

In addition to his work with CCHP, Brenner serves as medical director of Cooper University Healthcare’s Urban Health Institute. He also is on the faculty of Rowan University’s Cooper Medical School and serves on the Mariposa Food Co-op’s Board of Delegates.

Brenner earned his bachelor of science degree from Vassar College and doctor of medicine degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He completed his residency in family medicine at Swedish Health Center in Seattle, Wash.

Additional information about Brenner and his MacArthur Fellowship is available at www.macfound.org/fellows/886. The website for the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers is at www.camdenhealth.org. A PBS “Frontline” episode that featured Brenner may be viewed at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/doctor-hotspot, and a New Yorker article on him is at www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/24/110124fa_fact_gawande.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?