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Ottawa – September 20, 2017 – The planning and construction of a new campus for The Ottawa Hospital will be one of the largest community-building projects in the city’s history. Including patients and the community in the planning and design of the new campus will be integral to building the hospital of the future here in our nation’s capital.

In spring 2017, the hospital contracted experts to research and recommend an approach for long-term engagement with the community and patients about the planning and design of the new campus. As part of this work, the consultants spoke with a wide range of stakeholders and based their approach on the Ontario Public Engagement Framework.

The report released today on the website of The Ottawa Hospital recommends an inclusive, principled approach to engaging patients and our community to achieve this goal.

The report, titled Setting the Stage, Turning the Page: 21^st-Century Engagement for a 21^st-Century Health-Care Facility, recommends a principled approach that includes patients and the community-at-large in meaningful engagement through a defined process. That process will include open discussion and deliberation around important issues, including greenspace, design, accessibility, transportation planning and parking. This report charts a path towards a process that will be meaningful, transparent, and inclusive.

The Ottawa Hospital commits to the recommendations put forward in this report, notably:

• The hospital will follow a principled approach to develop a comprehensive, multi-phased, multi-year meaningful engagement program to support planning, design and development of the new campus.
• A community and patient working group will be established which will deliberate on issues raised through the engagement process.
• A Chief Engagement Steward will be named. This person will support the working group and ensure that the hospital maintains its principled approach to engagement through each stage of planning for the new campus.

Through the working group, and existing patient advisory committees, the hospital will engage with key stakeholders, including community members, patients and families, staff members and regional partners, in support of 21^st-century health care through a 21^st-century facility. In addition, engagement will take place in a variety of online and in-person formats to ensure that all interested parties will have the opportunity to engage on questions that matter most to them.

To begin its engagement process, the hospital will host public sessions and an online forum later this year to identify and validate which issues must be addressed in later sessions, begin defining the design principles that will guide the planning and development of the new campus, and provide feedback on broad functional concepts.

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For more information, please contact:

Michaela Schreiter
Communications Coordinator
The Ottawa Hospital
Email: mschreiter@toh.ca
Tel.: 613-798-5555 x77299