Plans released for the new Civic Hospital

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Hospital has announced details of the design for its new Civic Hospital, which is slated to open in 2028. The hospital will become one of the largest and most advanced medical centres in Canada, and will serve patients in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and parts of Nunavut.

The site will be a state-of-the-art facility, home to an advanced trauma centre and one of the most innovative neuroscience research programs in the world. It will also benefit from advanced digital technology, enabling medical personnel to provide patients with the most effective new treatments and services.

The project is estimated to cost $2.8 billion. The Ministry of Health’s share is $2.1 billion, and additional funding will be raised locally through other avenues such as fundraising. The campus structures will have an area of 2.5 million square feet, making the Civic one of the largest hospitals in the country.

It will include about 640 beds with room to expand to about 1,200. When the Ottawa Heart Institute moves to the site during the second phase of construction, about 200 more beds will be added. The current Civic, without the Heart Institute, has 460 beds.

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

The design of the new hospital will also reflect the experience and lessons learned during the current coronavirus pandemic, so that optimal care can be provided during pandemics and other medical emergencies in the future.

Single patient rooms, advanced robotics and an abundance of natural light will be among the key features of the new Civic campus.

The Ottawa Citizen reported the new hospital will include the ability to easily transform acute care beds into fully monitored intensive care beds if needed during a future pandemic. The planning also includes room to segregate ambulatory patients for infection control and improved ventilation in case of airborne infections.

“Having lived through a pandemic, there is a lot of updated thinking in terms of how we would manage the next pandemic,” said hospital president and CEO Cameron Love.

All rooms in the new hospital will be single occupancy, in contrast to the current Civic hospital, where only 10 to 15 percent of beds are in private rooms. Thirty-five per cent are wardrooms, with three or four beds. Some have been the site of in-hospital outbreaks in recent months.

Over the course of construction, the project will help to drive the regional economy by creating an estimated 20,000 jobs, as well as ancillary businesses, research and training opportunities, and health investments. After opening, will create a world-class healthcare system in Eastern Ontario that will attract healthcare providers, researchers and students from around the world.