Emerging even stronger
 

This past year has solidified one of my long-held beliefs: in challenging times, a community needs to rely on its hospital, and likewise, the hospital needs to rely on its community.

When COVID-19 hit Ottawa, you all hit back, donating over $1.6 million in the first two months in the fight against the virus. Because of this support, we were able to purchase critical equipment and invest in patient-care initiatives and vital research projects to combat the virus.
 

The community response has been inspirational and reminiscent of 100 years ago when our community rallied to build the Civic Hospital in response to the devastation of the 1918 flu pandemic.

The parallels between the push to build the Civic then, and our campaign to create a new hospital campus, are striking: a global pandemic, asymptomatic community transmission, no known treatments or vaccines.

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That’s why building a new, state-of-the-art hospital will create a healthier tomorrow — this is more important than ever.

The new Carling site will be designed with single-patient rooms to reduce the spread of infection and will have purposely-designed separate entrances, giving us flexibility to section off parts of the hospital should we find ourselves faced with another pandemic.

It will be the high-calibre facility that researchers and clinicians need to excel. This is what the future of healthcare looks like and our hospital will lead the way tackling some of the greatest healthcare challenges our world will face.

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Thank you for being one part of this extraordinary community and for supporting The Ottawa Hospital through this challenging time. As we look back over the past year, we will see that we have grown as a hospital and as a community, secure in the knowledge that we can thrive despite unprecedented challenges and emerge even stronger.