(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) – Respected business leaders today invited the community to step up to the plate and donate whatever they can to help raise the remaining $7 million to reach The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s $100 million Legacy Campaign goal. The five-year capital campaign comes to an end on January 31, 2008.Funds go to research and to build much-needed facilities at the Civic, General and Riverside campuses of The Ottawa Hospital. Key Legacy Campaign projects that still need to be completed include:

• 17 state-of-the-art operating rooms in the Critical Care Wing at the General Campus.
• the expansion of the Intensive Care Unit at the Civic Campus; and
• a new MRI machine and construction of a facility to house it at the Civic Campus.

For every dollar raised by our community, the government provides another $1.60 for buildings and equipment. The dollar leverage for research is much higher in many cases.The Campaign’s volunteer leaders made an appeal to the public this morning during an event at the General Campus of the Hospital.“Now is the time to get involved,” said Ron Zambonini, Legacy Campaign Co-Chair and Chairman of the Board of Cognos. “One in two people in our community will be touched by The Ottawa Hospital this year. That means that all of us or someone we love dearly will benefit from care or research at this hospital. That’s why it’s important to support the Legacy Campaign.”

Joining Mr. Zambonini at this morning’s event were other Legacy Campaign volunteers and respected business leaders, including Graham Macmillan, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets, Peter Cleveland, Legacy Campaign Co-Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland Leadership Group Inc., Yves Tremblay, formerly of JDS Uniphase and current Chair of The Ottawa Hospital Board of Governors. Dr. Jack Kitts, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital, and Susan Doyle, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, were also on hand for the announcement.

“We’ve already seen unprecedented support from individuals, corporations, foundations and community groups who have contributed to the Legacy Campaign since 2002,” said Dr. Jozef Straus, the third Legacy Campaign Co-Chair and former President and CEO of JDS Uniphase. “Together they have contributed an impressive $93 million for critical projects at the Hospital.”

Some of those projects include:

• the doubling of the Civic Emergency Department
• the transformation of the Riverside Campus into a state-of-the-art ambulatory care facility with clinics such as the Foustanellas Family Endocrine and Diabetes Centre, the Shirley Greenberg Women’s Health Centre, as well as clinics for arthritis and kidney care.
• the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research, the JDS Uniphase Employee Critical Care Wing (with its 32 ICU beds), the Ages Cancer Assessment Clinic – all at the General Campus.

“All the Legacy Campaign projects will have a significant impact on the health care and quality of life of countless Eastern Ontario residents for generations to come,” said Susan Doyle.

Sixty per cent of the Campaign total will go to support new, lifesaving equipment and facilities at The Ottawa Hospital, while 40 per cent will go to leading edge research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

The Ottawa Hospital is a multi-campus, academic health sciences centre, serving 1.5 million residents of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, both in English and French. It provides care for more patients than any other hospital in Canada, and boasts specialty centres in cancer, heart, kidney and vision care, as well as rehabilitation services. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Web site at www.ottawahospital.on.ca.

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s mission is to inspire and enable people to support the highest quality health care at The Ottawa Hospital and lifesaving research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Foundation Web site at www.ohfoundation.ca

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For more information, please contact:

Steve Blais
Communications Advisor
The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
(613) 798-5555 ext. 18718
stblais@ottawahospital.on.ca