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<\/p>\nToday, Cooper University Health Care held a groundbreaking ceremony on the first phase of a transformative $3 billion expansion of its Health Sciences Campus in Camden. When complete, Cooper\u2019s \u201cProject Imagine\u201d will mark the largest building investment in Camden County\u2019s history. George Norcross III, Chairman of Cooper University Health Care\u2019s Board of Trustees, and Cooper Co-CEOS Kevin O\u2019Dowd, JD, and Anthony J. Mazzarelli, MD, JD, MBE, were joined at the groundbreaking ceremony by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and former Governors Chris Christie, Jon Corzine, James McGreevey, and Tom Kean, and a special appearance by television icon, South Jersey native, and long-time Cooper supporter Kelly Ripa, underscoring the project\u2019s significance to the state and region.<\/p>\n
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\u201cCooper\u2019s investment of $3 billion for its future growth will be a transformative investment in the future of Camden and South Jersey,\u201d said George E. Norcross III, Chairman of Cooper University Health Care\u2019s Board of Trustees. \u201cThis project reinforces Cooper\u2019s long-standing commitment to delivering extraordinary health care, driving economic growth, and creating new opportunities for the people of the City of Camden and the region. Cooper\u2019s success, and the Camden renaissance, could not have happened without the strong and uninterrupted support of Governors Kean, McGreevey, Corzine, Christie and Governor Murphy \u2013 thank you for all you have done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies have entrusted Cooper with loved ones in their time of need for more than a century.\u00a0Today\u2019s groundbreaking helps ensure Cooper can continue serving families in Camden and beyond with the same high-quality standard of care it is known for,\u201d said Governor Murphy. \u201cOur Administration has made ensuring New Jersey\u2019s critical health services remain available and accessible a key focus, and these upgrades will ensure this hospital can continue meeting the region\u2019s growing needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expansion project, first announced by Cooper University Health Care in late 2022, will dramatically enhance Cooper\u2019s main campus to meet the current and future projected demand at Cooper University Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper.<\/p>\n
Cooper\u2019s ambitious campus plan is designed to address the clinical, ancillary, education and research, and support service needs of Cooper\u2019s rapidly growing academic medical center campus in Camden. The first phase hospital tower will use approximately $170 million in state grant money the Murphy Administration provided to the State\u2019s three Level 1 trauma centers after the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen New Jersey\u2019s emergency preparedness.<\/p>\n
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Project Imagine includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n First Phase Underway<\/strong><\/p>\n The first phase of the project is a 10-story, 345,000 square foot hospital tower on the corner of MLK Boulevard and Haddon Avenue directly across from the MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. The new building will be linked to the cancer center with a bridge over Haddon Avenue and is slated for completion by 2028.<\/p>\n Tower A will include:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cToday, we celebrate the incredible professionals who have served at Cooper over the past 138 years. Cooper has evolved into an elite, nationally recognized academic health system, and this next step forward would not be possible without the unwavering dedication and commitment of our team members,\u201d said Kevin O\u2019Dowd, JD, Co-CEO of Cooper. \u201cWe are grateful for your hard work and passion, which continue to drive our success and shape our future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis project will also empower Cooper\u2019s dedicated, expert physicians, nurses, and health care professionals to provide patients with the highest quality of care in facilities that match their skills,\u201d said Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, Co-CEO of Cooper.<\/p>\n The project is expected to create thousands of construction jobs and, upon completion, hundreds of permanent positions in health care and related fields. Cooper is partnering with the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and its construction manager, Torcon Inc.\/P. Agnes Inc., to ensure that Camden residents benefit from these employment opportunities through a unique job training program. Cooper University Health Care is the largest employer in both Camden city and Camden County. In 2024, Cooper was recognized by Forbes as one of America\u2019s Best-in-State Employers for the fourth consecutive year, highlighting its commitment to employee satisfaction and workplace excellence.<\/p>\n This expansion also further strengthens Cooper\u2019s ongoing contributions to Camden\u2019s revitalization efforts. As a regional health care leader, Cooper has been committed to helping city residents lead healthy, full lives and has helped spearhead Camden\u2019s turnaround. In addition to dramatically expanding its operations and expertise in recent years with the addition of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Cooper dramatically improved EMS service in the city when it took the service over in 2016.\u00a0 The Cooper EMS team has achieved a response time, from dispatch to arriving on scene, of eight minutes or less for 91.7% of their advanced lifesaving (ALS) calls. In 2019, Cooper EMS became the first emergency medical services team in the nation to implement a Suboxone program, aimed at saving lives and combating the opioid crisis.<\/p>\n Cooper serves its community in numerous ways, including the HeroCare Connect program, a partnership with Deborah Heart and Lung Center that provides specialty care for active and retired military personnel and their families. As the region\u2019s busiest trauma center, Cooper trains medical providers from every military branch\u2014one of the few health systems in the U.S. to do so\u2014and provides training to local, state, and federal government agencies.<\/p>\n A founding member of the Camden Health and Athletic Association (CHAA), Cooper supports expanded youth sports programs and health initiatives in Camden. Since 2016, CHAA has enabled over 1,000 Camden children to participate in various sports. Cooper also offers free job training programs, preparing Camden residents for careers as medical coders, critical care technicians, and more.<\/p>\n Additionally, Cooper provides direct support to those in need through in-kind donation programs and holiday meal donations. For the past 12 years, Cooper employees have donated backpacks and school supplies to Camden students.<\/p>\n Over the past decade, Camden has transformed from one of the nation\u2019s poorest and most violent cities into what President Barack Obama in 2015 called \u201ca symbol of promise for the nation.\u201d This remarkable turnaround is the result of an unprecedented collaboration among government, businesses, nonprofits, and religious leaders, all working to improve key quality-of-life pillars for residents.<\/p>\n In January, Mayor Victor Carstarphen joined the Board of Commissioners, the Camden County Police Department, and community stakeholders throughout the city to highlight the incredible progress and major accomplishments made in Camden over the last 12 years. In 2024, the city recorded its lowest number of homicides since 1985. In addition to a falling crime rate, Camden has seen progress when it comes to education, economic development, infrastructure, housing, and more.<\/p>\n \u201cThis expansion marks another milestone in the 138-year partnership between the City of Camden and Cooper University Heath Care,\u201d said Camden Mayor Victor G. Carstarphen. \u201cI congratulate George Norcross, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Cooper University Health Care System, and the entire team at Cooper for expanding their state-of-the-art facilities.\u00a0Cooper\u2019s commitment to attract the top doctors, nurses and specialists have made Camden the center for quality healthcare in the region.\u00a0This historic investment will create not only construction jobs, but upon completion, hundreds of new job opportunities in the healthcare industry.\u00a0 Cooper University Health Care is helping to lead the way in Camden\u2019s renaissance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
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