George Norcross donates $100 million to Cooper University Health Care

George E. Norcross III is making a $100 million gift to Cooper University Health Care, the largest single philanthropic donation in the Camden-based institution’s 139-year history and one of the biggest ever received by a New Jersey health system.

Cooper announced the gift Tuesday, saying the money will support investments in Camden and across South Jersey, with an emphasis on education and community programs that create jobs, training and economic opportunity.

The health system will add the Norcross name in recognition of the family’s five decades of service and leadership at Cooper.  Additional details about the name change were not immediately announced.

Norcross said the gift honors his parents, George E. Norcross Jr. and Anne Carol Conner Norcross, and recognizes his brothers, John, Donald and Philip; his children, Lexie and Alexander; and Sandra T. Norcross.

“For more than 50 years, our family has been dedicated to Cooper, and we are so proud to make this contribution to ensure that Cooper and the thousands of talented, committed professionals who make a difference every day for the people of Camden and South Jersey can continue the important work of investing in their future and in Camden’s continued renaissance,” Norcross said.

The Norcross family’s relationship with Cooper began with George Jr., who served on the Cooper Hospital Board of Trustees from 1976 to 1983. All four of his sons were born at Cooper.

At a time when other hospitals were shifting operations to suburban communities, the elder Norcross pushed to maintain high-quality health care in Camden.  Along with former Gov. Jim Florio, he was also an early advocate for establishing a medical school in South Jersey.  Cooper Medical School of Rowan University ultimately opened in Camden in 2012.

Anne Norcross worked at the Camden County Senior Citizens Center and advocated for seniors and underserved city residents while raising the couple’s four sons.

George Norcross III has served on Cooper’s Board of Trustees since 1990 and is its longest-serving chairman and board officer. Philip Norcross is chairman of The Cooper Foundation Board of Trustees and vice chairman of the health system’s board.  Lexie Norcross, representing the family’s third generation at Cooper, serves on the foundation board and is president of the Norcross Foundation.

The donation comes as Cooper undertakes an unprecedented expansion in Camden and throughout South Jersey.

Cooper launched Project Imagine in January 2025, a planned $3 billion expansion of its Camden campus that will include three new patient towers, as many as 745 private inpatient rooms, an expanded MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, a new emergency department and additional surgical, neonatal, research and educational facilities.

The system has also acquired Cape Regional Health System and announced new outpatient campuses in Cape May and Atlantic counties, as well as in Gloucester Township. The combined health system has more than 900 licensed beds, nearly $3 billion in annual revenue and more than 130 ambulatory locations across eight counties.

Cooper now employs more than 14,000 people, including more than 1,000 physicians practicing across 95 specialties. Its facilities receive more than 2.5 million patient visits annually.