(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) – The Ottawa Hospital Foundation announced today it had exceeded its $100-million goal and raised a historic $108,437,175 through its Legacy Campaign. Funds raised are going toward improvements at all three campuses of The Ottawa Hospital, in support of patient care and research.

“The goal for the Legacy Campaign was already incredibly ambitious and this community has gone beyond our wildest dreams!” said Susan Doyle, President and CEO, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

The community’s generosity was matched by government and other funding partners; resulting in a $383,931,091 investment in health care in our region. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care contributed $98,318,252 to capital projects at the Hospital, while granting agencies, corporate partners and government contributed $177,175,664 to the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital.

“These funds will go a long way to improving patient care in our region,” said Dr. Jack Kitts, President and CEO, The Ottawa Hospital. “Better equipment and better facilities are allowing us to attract the best medical staff to care for our loved ones, and to conduct groundbreaking research that our community will be the first to benefit from.”

Many individuals came on board near the end of the Campaign to lend their support. Among them was real estate developer and retailer Saul Goldfarb, who made a $1-million gift in honour of his late wife Edna. The Friends of the Ottawa Hospital – General Campus provided $250,000 toward the Intensive Care Unit, and other donors took advantage of new tax incentives by donating stock.

Over the past five years, community support through the Legacy Campaign has helped to transform The Ottawa Hospital at its General, Riverside and Civic campuses. Key projects included:

• Doubling the size of the Civic Campus Emergency Department.
• Building the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research, the JDS Uniphase Employee Legacy Critical Care Wing (with its 32 ICU beds and 17 operating rooms) and the Ages Cancer Assessment Clinic – all at the General Campus.
• Transforming the Riverside Campus into a state-of-the-art ambulatory care facility with clinics such as the Foustanellas Endocrine and Diabetes Centre, the Shirley E. Greenberg Women’s Health Centre, as well as clinics for arthritis, eye care and kidney care.
• Establishing the Acquired Brain Injury Program at The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre.
• Funding lifesaving medical equipment such as respirators and state-of-the-art beds, as well as a CT scanner.

The extra funds raised through the Campaign will allow the Hospital to provide ongoing education and training for nursing professionals, help outfit minimally invasive operating suites and provide additional funding for scientists at the OHRI.

For more information on Legacy Campaign projects, visit www.ohfoundation.ca.

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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