More than 100 guests attended the topping-off event, which included remarks from elected officials and Virtua leaders. | Photo Credit: Array Architects
- Virtua Health held a June 9 topping-out ceremony for the Marvin Samson Pavilion at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, N.J.
- The seven-story, nearly 200,000-square-foot addition is part of a $500 million renovation and expansion and is scheduled for completion in spring 2028.
- The project will expand the hospital’s size by 35% and create a new main entrance with six floors dedicated to patient care.
- Planned clinical spaces include 78 private patient rooms, 10 operating rooms, eight cardiac catheterization labs and a neuro-surgical stroke intervention suite.
CAMDEN, N.J. — Virtua Health has reached a major construction milestone on the Marvin Samson Pavilion at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, after crews placed the final steel beam atop the seven-story patient tower. The beam signing and topping-off ceremony, held June 9, marked progress on the nearly 200,000-square-foot addition, which is part of a $500 million renovation and expansion at the Haddon Avenue hospital. The addition is scheduled for completion in spring 2028. Once complete, it will increase the hospital’s size by 35% and serve as its main entrance. Six of the pavilion’s seven floors will be dedicated to patient care.
The pavilion is named for businessman and philanthropist Marvin Samson, a Virtua board member and longtime supporter. Samson has pledged $5 million to support Virtua’s education and workforce development programs, which Virtua identified as the largest gift in the health system’s history.
“The Marvin Samson Pavilion demonstrates our commitment to the future of care in Camden and beyond,” Virtua President and CEO Dennis W. Pullin said, according to an article from Virtua Health. “We look forward to welcoming every patient with compassion and supporting our staff and clinicians with a space that reflects their exceptional work.”
More than 100 guests attended the topping-off event, which included remarks from elected officials and Virtua leaders. Rev. Jon Peter Thomas, vicar general for the Diocese of Camden, blessed the 20-foot, 700-pound beam before it was lifted into place by crane. Attendees signed the beam with colorful permanent markers before construction crews hoisted it to the top of the structure.
The new pavilion will connect to the existing hospital at Haddon and Euclid avenues and support specialized services already centralized at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, including advanced cardiovascular care, organ transplantation and a neurosciences program in partnership with Penn Medicine.
“This beautiful, state-of-the-art pavilion will be the new heart of our hospital,” Lisa Ferraro, RN, Senior Vice President of Virtua Health and President of Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, said, according to an article from Virtua Health. “It will provide a private room for every patient, advanced surgical facilities, dedicated spaces for specialized care, and areas for reflection and remembrance. As the hospital’s new front door, it will include an uplifting and welcoming lobby.”
Planned project components include 78 private patient rooms; 10 operating rooms, including two hybrid suites; eight cardiac catheterization labs; three electrophysiology labs; two gastrointestinal endoscopy rooms; 40 surgical prep and recovery rooms; a neuro-surgical stroke intervention suite; and a centralized post-anesthesia care unit with 40 adaptable patient bays.
Additional renovations are underway across the hospital. In the past year, Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes opened its first Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit and renovated its Mother-Baby Unit and several Acute Care Rehab Unit rooms.
The project team includes Vivid Project Management, Array Architects, mechanical engineer TLC Engineering Solutions, structural engineer O’Donnell & Naccarato, contractor L.F. Driscoll Company, civil engineer Taylor Wiseman & Taylor, and geotechnical engineering consultant Haley Aldrich.