Netherlands ambassador visits Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus to celebrate strong relationship

The Dutch ambassador paid a special visit to the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus to celebrate the strong friendship between Canada and the Netherlands.

The Ottawa Hospital and the Embassy of the Netherlands celebrated the strong friendship between the hospital and the country Monday.

Dutch ambassador to Canada Margriet Vonno visited the Civic Campus to present Ottawa Hospital president and CEO Cameron Love and other hospital staff with tulips.

“I’m very proud that the Dutch brought the Tulip Festival to Ottawa. It was Her Royal Highness Princess Juliana who gave 100,000 tulip bulbs to thank the people of all the world for the safe haven that they found during the war. That has resulted in the biggest tulip festival outside of the Netherlands,” Vonno said.

Monday’s visit commemorates the relationship between Canada and the Netherlands, marking the legacy of Princess Margriet from the Civic Campus to The Ottawa Hospital’s new hospital campus.

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, now known as the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, in 1943.

“The birth of Princess Margriet brought a small ray of light and hope to the people of the Netherlands during the dark days of the Second World War,” the Ottawa Hospital said in a statement. “It was also the first—and only—time a foreign flag flew over the Peace Tower, symbolizing a powerful demonstration of solidarity."

The ambassador’s visit to the Ottawa Hospital comes as tulips bloom across Ottawa during the Canadian Tulip Festival. The Netherlands provides a gift of tulips to Ottawa every year.

“It’s very much a legacy of both this hospital, this town and this country - in terms of the legacy of the relationship with the Netherlands,” said Love. “Knowing that Princess Margriet was born here and the symbolism of both her and her mother, Queen Juliana, and the importance to this organization in town I think is just part of why we do this every year. It’s always a great celebration, the whole Tulip Festival. It’s a great recognition of that relationship and it’s part of who we are as a hospital.”