For Ginger Bertrand, some of her earliest childhood memories in Ottawa are centred around healthcare. “I grew up across the street from what was originally the General Hospital,” she explains, “and the whole community was made up of doctors.”
But when the Ottawa-born president and founder of Gab Group Inc—a Toronto-based talent management and PR firm—moved back to the National Capital Region a few years ago, she became a passionate advocate for the region’s young leaders and a champion for women’s health and empowerment.
That is what inspired her to get involved with The Ottawa Hospital’s $500-million Campaign to Create Tomorrow to raise funds for the new hospital campus and take research to new heights. “I wanted to get involved because I strongly believe Ottawa needs a new hospital and I’m ready to engage the new generation of donors to help make that happen.”
When the new campus opens, it will offer 641 single-patient rooms with fully accessible washrooms, integrated technology to enhance patient experience, and space for loved ones to spend the night. Room designs reflect the latest standards in infection prevention and control. Other exciting highlights of the new campus will include the most advanced trauma centre in Eastern Ontario with dedicated routes for ambulances and a rooftop heliport, expanded surgical capacity with specialized surgical suites for trauma surgery, neurosurgery, and vascular surgery.
There will also be space for research and education to be integrated into clinical areas to increase patient access to clinical trials and groundbreaking new therapies and increase collaboration between researchers and clinicians.
After years of planning and plenty of fundraising, construction on the site across from Dow’s Lake is underway, and $336 million has been raised—a testament to the dozens of community and business leaders who have donated to help make the new facility a reality.
Celebrating the campaign’s community volunteers
Bertrand was recently named one of four new co-chairs of the campaign—along with Inflector Environmental Services’ Jeff W. Clarke, The Ottawa Hospital’s Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, and Calian’s Kevin Ford—to steer the campaign through its next phase. They succeed Roger Greenberg, the campaign’s new chair emeritus, after he successfully oversaw $330-plus million in donations as chair over the past five years.
But they’re just a small fraction of the many local community leaders who have volunteered to help spread the word and raise money for the new hospital, including members of the campaign executive, cabinet, and founding patrons such as PWHL Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner.
Ford, a member of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s board of directors for nearly seven years, says he didn’t take the decision to step up as campaign co-chair lightly. “I thought about it for a while,” he says. “But I kept coming back to what an opportunity to support a critical initiative in the city.”
“We just need to get this done. We’re in the last leg. And I’m ready to put my shoulder into it to make sure it gets done.”
To achieve the remainder of the fundraising goal—the largest in Ottawa’s history—it will take these dedicated volunteers reaching out to every corner of our community.
‘The backbone of the community for 100 years’
Bertrand says she was particularly inspired to pitch in by the world-leading medical research and innovations taking place at the hospital—such as Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden’s ongoing studies on ovarian cancer, which were the first to generate an in vivo model to study the rarest form of the disease, among other breakthroughs.
There are currently 2,000-plus research projects taking place at the hospital and more than 9,600 patients enrolled in clinical trials. These trials are providing patients with access to new and potentially life-saving treatment options for cancer, stroke, heart disease, kidney disease and many other conditions.
These research efforts will only be accelerated at the new campus, which will include dedicated research spaces, including the expansion of the already successful biomanufacturing centre and a world-class neuroscience centre.
Bertrand says that along with cutting-edge research and innovation, she’s inspired by the fact that all inpatient rooms are private and will include accessible washrooms and a comfortable place for loved ones to stay. “I think that is going to be huge for patients and their families,” she says. “It will offer a quiet place for healing and space for a patient’s support team to be close to them. That’s what I would want for my family.”
Ford agrees, adding that as a born-and-bred Ottawan, he’s personally inspired by the new campus, which he says will be the backbone of healthcare for the Ottawa community for the next century.
“I would say it’s not if, it’s when you’ll need The Ottawa Hospital,” he says. “I had four kids born there. My mother passed away there. As we build for the future, you want to know you have the best care in your community. That you don’t have to go somewhere else. You can do it here.”
Why business and community leaders should get involved
As the campaign enters this important phase, Bertrand says there’s still a ton of work to do—and that it’s imperative for other business and community leaders to step up and get involved.
After all, a strong healthcare network means a healthy community. But it’s also a competitive advantage for businesspeople in technology and other verticals looking to attract top-shelf talent to the city.
“If you want to attract the best and brightest employees, you have to have excellent schools and a great healthcare infrastructure,” she says. “It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
It’s also a huge opportunity for local technology companies to help support the research and innovation ecosystem that will grow at the new campus, adds Ford. “Companies need to think about how we’ll participate in that,” he explains, “whether that’s supporting the research and innovation as a company or providing some of the technology.”
It’s also a chance for local business leaders to build their legacy in the community through a spirit of generosity and altruism.
“You think about everything we do in our time on this Earth, and all the things we do as tech and business leaders,” says Ford. “How often can you contribute to something that will be around for the next century? That has this type of impact and legacy for the community for years and years to come?”
