Thanks to a $1-million donation from local engineering firm Paterson Group, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation is that much closer to its $500-million fundraising goal to build a new campus on Carling Avenue at Dow’s Lake.
“This is by far the largest donation that our company has ever been involved with since our inception in 1956. We have always been involved in a lot of charitable work,” says David Gilbert, president of the Paterson Group.
A call from Roger Greenberg, executive chairman of the board for Minto and the chair emeritus of the Campaign to Create Tomorrow for The Ottawa Hospital, inspired the leadership team at Paterson Group to contemplate the million-dollar gift.
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“When Roger called, we took it seriously and met with our board. It made sense because our consulting firm does most of our work in Ottawa, so when you have a major project like a new campus of The Ottawa Hospital, it is monumental for the entire community. We are very proud of the donation and it is hard to say no to Roger Greenberg,” adds Gilbert.
The idea of attracting world-class talent to the city and outfitting the hospital with state-of-art equipment was a deciding factor for the donation.
Tim Kluke, president and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, and Mike McGahan, CEO of CLV Group and executive chairman of InterRent REIT and campaign executive for the Campaign to Create Tomorrow, also met with the Paterson Group team to share the importance of contributing.
“For me, learning about the campaign, it was a big realization of how crucial the community is in such a large infrastructure project like a hospital. We want the best equipment and to get the best people here. Tim and Mike also expressed that it would take an entire community to pull together to make sure that the new campus is a reality. We hope to inspire companies our size to dig deep, too,” says Gilbert.
The Ottawa Hospital Foundation has raised 71.2 per cent of its fundraising target. Since the campaign kicked off in April 2022, $356 million of the $500-million goal has been donated by individuals, community groups and companies.
Paterson Group is a multidisciplinary consulting firm focused on geotechnical, environmental and hydrogeological engineering solutions. In addition to Ottawa, it has offices in Sudbury, North Bay and Toronto and employs 165 people.
Gilbert, originally a resident of New Brunswick, has lived in Ottawa for 22 years. He started his career as a young engineer and four years ago became the president of Paterson Group.
“Our families are very proud of the donation to The Ottawa Hospital,” adds Gilbert.
