Officials celebrate Cooper expansion groundbreaking, Camden and Norcross

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New Jersey and Camden officials gathered Tuesday to break ground on the first phase of a $3 billion expansion of the Cooper University Health Care campus. They also praised the hospital’s chairman, George E. Norcross III, and talked about Camden’s turnaround from the country’s most dangerous city to a “city invincible.”

‘Project Imagine’ will add hundreds of beds and emergency command center

Construction of a 10-story, 35,000-square-foot tower is the first part of the expansion. The new building will accommodate 125 “acuity-adaptable” private rooms, expanded women’s services, including a new neonatal intensive care unit, additional operation rooms, education and research space and a state-of-the-art medical command center to serve the region.

Some of the cost of the tower that will be built at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Haddon Avenue is covered by a $170 million state grant. The building will be connected to the MD Anderson Cancer Center via a bridge over Haddon Avenue. It’s expected to be completed by 2028.

Overall, three new patient towers will be built, adding up to 745 all-private inpatient beds, expanded surgical capacity and a state-of-the-art emergency department. It could possibly take a decade to complete the expansion, which was first announced in September 2022.

Former governors celebrate Camden’s progress and Norcross

Joining Norcross in the morning groundbreaking ceremony was Gov. Phil Murphy and four of his predecessors: Chris Christie, Jon Corzine, Jim McGreevey and Tom Kean Sr. Each one took a moment to pay tribute to Norcross and how Camden has turned around.

“There’s only one guy in the state that could pull this group together,” the current governor said.

Christie recalled his first trip to Camden in 2002 as the new U.S. attorney and how U.S. Marshals were waiting for him after a long day to walk him to his car.

“It was the first moment that I truly understood on a personal level what the state of the city of Camden was in February of 2002,” Christie said. “That they didn’t believe I could walk safely from the courthouse door — 30 yards — to my car.”

It was under the Christie administration when the Camden Police Department was dissolved in favor of a countywide police force. The former governor touted that Camden is a much safer city than two decades ago, with homicides down 75%.

“People thought it was impossible, but because we all worked together, it wasn’t,” Christie added.

Former Gov. Corzine called the Norcrosses “a force of nature.”

“Between he, his two brothers and the family in general, they have done remarkable things for this community,” Corzine said. “The Norcrosses family legacy, philanthropy, and for their tenacious leadership — tenacious means that he sticks prods in you regularly if you are a politician to make sure that we are recognized in the south.”

Mayor Vic Carstarphen recalled a press conference he held with other Camden officials earlier in January that touted the city’s lowest crime level in 55 years, as well as improving schools and improved neighborhoods.

“Camden is getting better every day because of hard work and that commitment and it has been a result of cooperation and strong partnerships,” Carstarphen said. “This is a room of people helping people and I can’t think of nobody bigger than George Norcross who wants to help people.”

While much was celebrated about Camden’s successes, nothing was said about the 13-count indictment that Norcross faces for allegedly scheming to take over properties along Camden’s waterfront and cashing in on a state tax incentive program. Defense attorneys for Norcross and his co-defendants recently argued for the indictment to be dismissed.

Norcross did not stop to answer reporter questions.

Two of the co-defendants, former Camden Mayor Dana Redd and George’s brother Philip Norcross, attended the ceremony.

Disco party R-I-P-A

Also participating in the groundbreaking was television star Kelly Ripa, a Camden County native whose parents met at Cooper hospital six-and-a-half decades ago.

“[My dad] swept [my mom] off her feet with the pickup line, ‘Where’s the third floor?’ To which she responded with a sexy retort, ‘It’s above the second floor,’” Ripa said. “And 10 years later, I was born. It was magic.”

During the height of the COVID pandemic, when Ripa was hosting her daily morning show from home, she recorded a video of gratitude for Cooper staff and vowed to bring them “a disco ball shaped red velvet cake” and “a disco dance party” when the coronavirus was under control.

Ripa renewed that promise during the announcement of Cooper’s expansion in 2022. She delivered following the groundbreaking.

The disco party was held across the street from the hospital in a tent in the parking lot of the Ronald McDonald House. It featured a DJ spinning ‘70s dance tunes and red velvet cupcakes.