A tall construction crane rises over the downtown Camden skyline, the symbol of a massive healthcare expansion underway in the city and the latest boost for the formerly beleaguered local economy.
Under the towering crane is the first phase of Cooper University Health Care’s multi-phase $3 billion expansion as it builds a new 10-story, 345,000-square-foot patient tower with 125 private patient rooms, labor/delivery rooms, neonatal intensive care unit, and additional operating rooms.
Less than two miles down Haddon Avenue from Cooper, Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is building its own new patient tower, a 200,000-square-foot, $500-million project with 78 private patient rooms and 10 operating rooms.
“If there is a model for urban renewal in our country, Camden is that model,” former New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cooper tower in 2025.
The Cooper construction – dubbed “Project Imagine” when it was unveiled – invests in the hospital system’s future growth in the city and “will be a transformative investment in the future of Camden and South Jersey,” George E. Norcross III, chairman of the Cooper board of trustees, said in a statement for the groundbreaking.
Despite repeated requests, neither Norcross nor other Cooper hospital officials were available to Jersey Digs to comment on the role that Cooper’s expansion will play in Camden’s future.
The Cooper expansion is scheduled for completion in 2028, and the Virtua/Lourdes tower is scheduled to open next year. Our Lady of Lourdes, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, was purchased by the Virtua Health system in 2019.
The two hospital systems’ separate expansions are the centerpieces of healthcare growth in Camden, while other smaller health-related projects continue at the same time.
Camden-based residential developer, The Michaels Organization, partnered with Virtua Health last year to open the $24-million Oliver Station building next to the Ferry Avenue PATCO Speedline station. Forty-seven age-restricted apartments sit atop a 5,200-square-foot Virtua primary care office with 10 examination rooms staffed by Virtua.
For the residents of the Oliver Station building, healthcare is only an elevator ride away – one of the goals of the blended development. The primary care offices also serve the Camden neighborhood and others who may hop on the Speedline to visit their physician across the Ferry Station parking lot.
“High-quality primary care will literally be at their doorstep,” Dennis W. Pullin, president and CEO of Virtua Health, said at the Oliver Station opening ceremonies last year.
The Michaels Organization has said it may try the Oliver Station apartment/healthcare model elsewhere in New Jersey.
Another longtime healthcare institution in Camden, the 73-year-old Coriell Institute for Medical Research, founded in the city by Dr. Lewis L. Coriell, is scheduled to move in 2028 from its Haddon Avenue headquarters to a new building near Campbell’s company headquarters.
Camden’s Planning Board has approved Coriell’s plan for a 96,000-square-foot office and research building. Coriell researches rare diseases, cancer, and aging and has served as a National Institutes of Health cell repository for more than 50 years.
Besides expanding physically, nonprofit Coriell also is broadening its scope of research.
Last year, Coriell and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) announced an agreement to establish a New Jersey Biomedical Strategic Innovation Center at the new research center. In March 2023, Coriell partnered with Rowan and the Cooper Health System to create the Camden Cancer Research Center, with a goal of finding new treatments and improving cure rates for cancer patients.
Clearly, the largest Camden healthcare project is Cooper’s $3-billion program.
While construction has begun on one patient tower, a total of three new patient towers will be built with 745 all-private inpatient beds. A state-of-the-art emergency department, enhanced surgical and emergency services, and a new Regional Medical Coordination Center are also part of the rollout.
“This historic investment will create not only construction jobs, but upon completion, hundreds of new job opportunities in the healthcare industry. Cooper University Health Care is helping to lead the way in Camden’s renaissance,” Mayor Victor Carstarphen said when ground was broken for the Cooper project.
