Cooper Norcross University Hospital in Camden is proposing another significant expansion of its hospital campus, with plans for a new ten-story Benson Pavilion tower to be constructed along Haddon Avenue and Cooper Plaza/Benson St, in the area currently utilized for the emergency room entrance and its associated driveway loop.
The new hospital building would have a footprint of approximately 30,000 square feet, bringing likely around 300,000 square feet of additional hospital space to the Camden campus.
This latest proposal comes as construction is already well underway on another ten-story hospital tower at the northeast corner of the property, which is identified as Tower A.
The Benson Pavilion project is scheduled for a Camden Planning Board hearing on November 16 at 6 p.m., conducted online through Microsoft Teams. Additional meeting information is provided at the end of this article.
According to the project’s public notice, Cooper Norcross Health (CNH) intends for the Benson Pavilion expansion to better serve patients and the surrounding community by transitioning existing healthcare services from aging sections of the hospital into new, state-of-the-art facilities.
The proposal is also part of a much larger, long-term modernization effort that could eventually lead to the demolition, replacement and upgrading of additional portions of the existing hospital.
Benson Pavilion: Ten Stories, Two Phases
The new Benson Pavilion would be developed in two phases, although the full ten-story exterior structure would be constructed during the initial phase.
For Phase One, only the first six floors would be fully developed and occupied, while the upper four floors would remain unfinished interior shell spaces.
A future second phase would complete those upper four floors, allowing the hospital to expand its operations within the already constructed building.
At full build-out, the Benson Pavilion is projected to accommodate a maximum of:
- 110 patient beds
- 428 employees during the largest staffing shift
- 40 physicians
Interestingly, the initial six-floor occupancy related to patient beds would be significantly smaller, with only approximately 22 patient beds anticipated.
Staffing during Phase One would represent approximately 60% of the full project’s projected employment, or around 257 employees and 24 physicians.
The documents submitted to the City of Camden describe the Benson Pavilion as a key component of CNH’s long-term investment in the Camden community. The project is described as an initial phase of a broader campus modernization effort that would facilitate future demolition, replacement and upgrading of existing hospital facilities.
What Happens to the Emergency Room Entrance?
One of the more interesting aspects of this proposal is its location.
The Benson Pavilion would be constructed directly in the area currently utilized for the hospital’s emergency room entrance, including the open driveway loop where vehicles can pull up to drop off patients.
So naturally, the big question is: Where does the emergency room entrance go?
Based on the plans, it appears the emergency room entrance would remain in essentially the same general location, but would be incorporated into the first floor of the new Benson Pavilion building.
The proposed configuration appears to have vehicles entering a smaller access area along side of Cooper Plaza, pulling underneath a portion of the new hospital building to drop off patients.
It appears this would be strictly a patient drop-off area, with no direct parking available at the entrance.
Drivers would pull in, drop off their patients and then move their vehicles to another parking location.
Of course, the hospital would need to maintain emergency room access during construction, and the plans provided don’t make clear exactly how that temporary arrangement would work.
Parking: 316 Additional Spaces Required
The proposed Benson Pavilion would also create additional parking demand.
According to the project calculations, the fully completed building, operating at its maximum projected occupancy, would require 316 additional parking spaces.
Rather than constructing another large parking garage directly on the hospital campus, CNH intends to satisfy this demand through a combination of leased parking spaces at existing nearby facilities and an off-site employee parking arrangement.
The off-site parking would be located near the Camden waterfront, with employees transported between the parking location and the hospital campus by shuttle.
This is an arrangement that Cooper has utilized previously for other hospital projects.
It’s also an interesting example of how the hospital is working to maximize its available land within what has become a relatively tight, landlocked urban campus.
With existing hospital buildings, parking garages and surrounding roadways already occupying much of the property, there simply isn’t a lot of open land available for significant new construction.
Tower A: Another Ten-Story Expansion Already Under Construction
As mentioned earlier, Cooper Norcross University Hospital is already in the middle of another major tower expansion.
In January 2025, the hospital celebrated the groundbreaking of a ten-story building on the northeast corner of its campus, along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
That project, identified as Tower A, has a slightly larger building footprint of approximately 35,000 square feet and will introduce 125 private inpatient rooms.
The renderings for Tower A show a beautifully designed, predominantly glass exterior with distinctive angles that create a striking visual introduction to the hospital campus.
Considering that many visitors approach this portion of Camden from Interstate 76, the new building should make quite an impression as drivers enter the area.
I actually hadn’t traveled through this part of Camden in a little while, and when I stopped over on Monday, I was surprised to see just how far construction has advanced.
The full steel structure is now largely in place, clearly outlining the height, shape and distinctive design of the new hospital tower.
It appeared that some additional steel work may still be underway at the very top of the building, but crews have already started installing glass exterior panels on the lower levels.
The progress is impressive, particularly when you consider the scale of the project and the challenges of constructing a massive new building within an active hospital campus.
That January 2025 groundbreaking ceremony was also a memorable event for New Jersey politics, bringing together all five of the state’s living governors at the time: Phil Murphy, Chris Christie, Jon Corzine, Jim McGreevey and Richard Codey. Mr Codey passed away in January of this year.
An Evolving $3 Billion Hospital Modernization Plan
One aspect of the new Benson Pavilion proposal that caught my attention is how it fits into Cooper’s previously announced $3 billion campus expansion and modernization effort.
When I covered the Tower A groundbreaking in early 2025, some of the renderings provided at the time included conceptual views of additional future hospital buildings.
Interestingly, the Benson Pavilion was not identified in those drawings, at least not in the materials that were made available to me.
That suggests the Cooper Norcross team continues to evolve its long-term development plans as it works through the complex challenge of expanding a major hospital campus in the middle of Camden.
And when you look at the property, it’s easy to understand why.
The hospital has already developed much of its available land, with existing medical facilities, parking structures and surrounding streets creating significant constraints.
The new Benson Pavilion proposal appears to be another creative solution, taking an existing emergency room driveway and open area and transforming it into a ten-story hospital building, while maintaining emergency room access at ground level.
Combined with the already-under-construction Tower A, these projects represent a substantial transformation of the Cooper hospital campus.
And based on the hospital’s stated long-term modernization goals, it seems there could be even more changes coming in the years ahead.
Camden Planning Board Hearing: November 16
The proposed Benson Pavilion project is scheduled to appear before the Camden Planning Board on Monday, November 16, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Camden conducts its Planning Board meetings online through the Microsoft Teams platform, allowing members of the public to participate remotely.
For additional information on the hearing, including instructions for joining the online meeting, visit the Camden Planning Board website.
Links and Location
Cooper Norcross University Health
Haddon Ave and Martin Luther King Blvd
Camden NJ
