Cooper University Hospital Philanthropy

The Norcross family has a multi-generational legacy of involvement with Cooper University Health Care and has avidly supported the hospital since 1976, when George E. Norcross, Jr., joined the Board of Trustees. From that year forward, the family has devoted countless resources to help maintain and foster research, education, and top-quality medical care in the City of Camden, consistently striving to improve the quality of life in Camden and its surrounding communities.

Recently, the Cooper Foundation’s Cooper Red Hot Heart Gala, hosted by George E. Norcross, III raised $2.2 million to support Cooper University Health Care’s commitment to providing exceptional medical care and services for patients and to improve the quality of life in the community. The event has raised a total of $14.3 million since 2011 and is the largest charitable fundraising event in the metro area for health care.

George and his brother Phil currently serve on the Board of Trustees of Cooper University Health Care and the Board of Trustees of The Cooper Foundation. During their years of service, Cooper has been transformed into a top-tier academic medical center and has sparked the transformation and revitalization of the City of Camden. Norcross has won wide praise for his leadership of Cooper, including the prestigious Seven Seals Award given by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Employer Support for National Guard and Reserve in recognition of Cooper’s Veterans VIP Priority Program.

Not only did the Norcross family fight to keep Cooper in Camden, they were instrumental in the development of the Cooper Health Sciences Campus in Camden. The campus, which boasts the $220 million Roberts Pavilion, a VA clinic, and new landscaping, parks, lighting, and street improvements, also houses the new Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Norcross also led the effort to bring MD Anderson Cancer Center to Cooper, and in October 2013, the Cooper University Health Care/MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper opened.

The Norcross Foundation hears countless stories of individuals whose lives were saved as a result of the care they received at Cooper. It is these stories, coupled with the talented physicians, nurses, and staff, that inspire The Foundation to continue to help make Cooper the best possible healthcare system in the region.