George Norcross III is donating $100 million to Cooper University Health Care in honor of his parents, marking the largest single philanthropic gift in the health system’s history — and one of the largest in state history for any sector.
The gift, to be announced Tuesday by Cooper’s Board of Trustees, honors patriarch George E. Norcross Jr. and matriarch Anne Carol Conner Norcross, and comes after more than 50 years of Norcross family involvement with the Camden-based health system.
In recognition, Cooper will add the Norcross name.
The donation is one of the largest ever made to a health system in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, according to Cooper. The gift will be directed toward investments in Camden and Cooper’s broader South Jersey service area, with a focus on education and community programs aimed at creating jobs, training and opportunity.
“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, Chairman of the Cooper University Health Care Board of Trustees, said.
The Norcross family’s ties to Cooper date back to George E. Norcross Jr. and Anne Carol Conner Norcross, whose four sons — George E. III, John, Donald and Philip — were all born at Cooper Hospital. George Jr. served on Cooper’s Board of Trustees from 1976 to 1983 and was an early advocate, alongside former Gov. James Florio, for establishing a medical school in South Jersey — a vision realized in 2012 with the opening of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Anne Carol Conner Norcross, who was born and raised in Tennessee, spent years advocating for seniors and underserved Camden residents while raising her four sons.
That commitment has carried into a third generation. George Norcross III has served on Cooper’s Board of Trustees since 1990 and is the longest-serving chairman and board officer in the institution’s history.
His brother, Philip Norcross, serves as Chairman of The Cooper Foundation Board of Trustees and Vice Chairman of the Cooper Health System Board of Trustees; he is also the longtime CEO of the law firm Parker McCay. Norcross’s daughter, Alessandra “Lexie” Triem Norcross, sits on The Cooper Foundation Board and serves as president of the Norcross Foundation. She also founded PhillyVoice, an online news outlet covering the greater Philadelphia area.
The gift arrives amid a period of rapid growth for Cooper.
The health system launched “Project Imagine” in January 2025, a $3 billion expansion of its Camden campus that includes new patient towers with up to 745 all-private inpatient beds, an expanded MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, a new emergency department, expanded surgical capacity and a new neonatal intensive care unit.
Cooper has also acquired Cape Regional Health System, creating a combined system with more than 900 licensed beds and nearly $3 billion in annual revenue, and has announced plans for a Shore Region expansion and a new $300 million outpatient campus in Gloucester Township. The system holds an A+ credit rating from both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch, and was the only New Jersey health system named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best Large Employers for 2026.
Cooper now employs more than 14,000 people, making it the largest employer in Camden County, with more than 1,000 physicians practicing across 95 specialties. The system’s facilities receive more than 2.5 million patient visits annually.
Cooper University Health Care is headquartered in Camden and is affiliated with Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. It operates MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper along with three hospitals: the 663-bed flagship Cooper University Hospital in Camden, the 229-bed Cooper University Hospital Cape Regional in Cape May Court House, and Children’s Regional Hospital in Camden. Cooper University Hospital is the only Level 1 trauma center in South Jersey.
The gift is comparable to three other major health care donations in recent years, all of which have had a substantial impact in health care in the state.
In 2021, Leon and Toby Copperman gave $100 million to Saint Barnabas Medical Center, which now bears the Cooperman name.
In 2025, the Douglas M. Noble Family Foundation, gave $75 million to Holy Name Medical Center.
Jack and Sheryl Morris gave an undisclosed amount to help fund the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center.
