Design and site plan of new Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus unveiled

The Ottawa Hospital Civic Development The Ottawa Hospital President and CEO Cameron Love talks about the new Civic development set to open in 2028

OTTAWA — Ottawa got its first glimpse Tuesday of the design and site plan for the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

Plans were unveiled at the city's Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting.

Hospital CEO Cameron Love says the project will transform how health care is delivered in this region.

“We’re excited to move forward with the next stages of the new Civic development. This development will be a pivotal marker for the transformation of health care for the Ottawa region for generations to come,” Love said. “We will continue to work closely with our municipal, provincial and federal governments as well as our community, throughout this stage of planning. We’re very grateful for their partnership and support as we move forward.”

The main hospital building, including the Emergency Department, inpatient and outpatient clinics, will sit atop of the escarpment across from Dow’s Lake, the Ottawa Hospital says. Additional clinic space, medical offices, research and education buildings, and a parking garage will be located on the lower portion of the site, all connected to the nearby LRT station.

Love added that this hospital will be more than just an emergency department.

"It will be the largest acute care centre for adults in our region; it will be home to an advanced trauma centre; and it will house one of the most innovative neuromuscular research programs in the world. There have been new hospitals built across the country and across Ontario, but none that will have the order of magnitude of impact that this centre will provide for this community, both from a clinical, a research and an education perspective," he said.

“People in our region will come to this new facility for compassionate, skilled care,” said Katherine Cotton, Chair of The Ottawa Hospital’s Board of Governors in a release. “The new treatments and technologies that will be used and developed here will save lives and advance and revolutionize health care. This hospital is the future of health care.”

Construction of the new campus is expected to start in 2024. The $2.8 billion project is scheduled to be ready in 2028. The Ministry of Health is funding $2.1 billion, with the remaining funding coming locally through fundraising initiatives, the Ottawa Hospital says. Construction of the new campus is expected to create 20,000 jobs.

Mayor Jim Watson said the new campus is one of three big projects that will transform the city, the other two being Stage 2 of LRT and the new Ottawa Library at LeBreton Flats.

"So we begin to write the chapter in our city’s history with a project that will transform health care as we know it," said Mayor Jim Watson. "Together, these projects (the new Civic Campus, the LRT, and the new Ottawa Library) will invest well over $10 billion into the local economy and create literally tens of thousands of jobs during construction and afterwards."

Public consultation will take place in the coming months in Ottawa and across the region to enable members of the public to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposal.

"Health-care is a pillar to any great community or great city. This is really a historical city building project, and will be a landmark for this city for probably the next century," Love said.