If you pass by the future home of The Ottawa Hospital’s new campus on Carling Avenue these days, you’ll notice action. Construction on the 50-acre site is in its first phase — that means prepping the land where the new hospital will be built and building the parking garage.
After years of planning and anticipation, the vision to replace the near century-old Civic Campus is becoming a reality.
Significant progress is also being made in the region’s largest fundraising campaign to support the new hospital campus and leading-edge research. The historic $500-million campaign has surpassed the halfway point. With $268 million raised to date, the Campaign to Create Tomorrow has taken a significant step forward to reshape healthcare and transform the patient experience.
With the first phase of construction now underway, Roger Greenberg, chair of the Campaign to Create Tomorrow, explains that it’s generated a new level of excitement about the future of healthcare in our region. “This is a critical moment we’ve been waiting for — the reality of seeing work underway. It’s an exciting moment in time for this campaign, and I know it will energize our community’s engagement with what the future holds for healthcare.”
Key to the early success of the campaign, according to Greenberg, is those one-on-one conversations. “A face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and most effective way of raising money. I always say, ‘Just give me an hour of your time.’”
Business and community leaders stepping forward is also why this campaign has achieved 53.6 per cent of its goal to date — leaders like Kathryn Tremblay, the co-founder and CEO of one of Canada’s leading independent staffing firms, Altis Recruitment.
When asked about her commitment to the campaign, she immediately acknowledges the leadership of the campaign executive.
“I stand by Roger Greenberg and that whole team because the way they’re showing up for the community is truly spectacular.”
When it came to her own $200,000 gift, she explained how she sees this new campus as a major pillar for our entire city. “I’d encourage anyone to get involved at whatever level you can. Your financial contribution will help build a new, well-designed, state-of-the-art facility that will make a difference to not only you as you age, but also to your children and grandchildren. I think of it as paying it forward to future generations.”
While considering a gift to the campaign, Tremblay just had to look to those around her — starting with her four daughters, who were all born at the Civic Campus — and to her late husband who received care from the hospital’s cancer team.
As a business leader, Tremblay also acknowledges the considerable follow-on possibilities the new campus brings to the community. “To attract talented people and encourage them to consider Ottawa as a great place to live, you need top schools and state-of-the-art healthcare. This will help strengthen both of these two critical pillars.”
When the new hospital campus opens its doors, it will build on Ottawa’s leadership as a hub for healthcare, research, and training — attracting the best medical minds and scientists in the world. And most importantly, it will transform the patient care experience.
