{"id":220416,"date":"2025-05-12T14:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T18:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=220416"},"modified":"2025-06-11T16:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:03:28","slug":"from-civic-campus-to-new-campus-dutch-ambassador-visit-marks-ongoing-legacy-at-the-ottawa-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/from-civic-campus-to-new-campus-dutch-ambassador-visit-marks-ongoing-legacy-at-the-ottawa-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"From Civic Campus to new campus: Dutch Ambassador visit marks ongoing legacy at The Ottawa Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dutch Ambassador Margriet Vonno (middle) honours our staff with a gift of tulips.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

On May 12, 2025, The Ottawa Hospital and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands held a ceremonial visit at the Civic Campus, where Margriet Vonno, Ambassador of the Netherlands, presented tulips to Cameron Love, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital, and other hospital staff. The gesture celebrated the strong and enduring relationship between the hospital and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event highlighted the deep historical ties between Canada and the Netherlands and symbolized the transition of Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands\u2019 legacy from the Civic Campus \u2014 where she was born in 1943 \u2014 to The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s new campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tulips as a symbol of gratitude<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The tulips Ambassador Vonno presented to staff have long symbolized the strong bond between the Netherlands and Canada. This tradition began with a postwar gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs from Princess Juliana as a thank-you for Canada\u2019s wartime support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That gift sparked what would become Ottawa\u2019s annual Tulip Festival and continues to serve as a visible and lasting symbol of the bond between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A shared history during wartime<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Canada became a safe haven for the Dutch Royal Family during the Second World War. Crown Princess Juliana and her children fled to Ottawa in 1940, where they remained until after the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born at what was then called the Ottawa Civic Hospital, Princess Margriet\u2019s birth brought a small ray of light and hope to the people of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ensure she would hold only Dutch citizenship, the Canadian government temporarily declared the hospital room extraterritorial. In a unique gesture of solidarity, the Dutch flag was flown over the Peace Tower \u2014 the only time in history a foreign flag has been raised there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Princess
Princess Juliana of the Netherlands holds\u00a0infant Princess Margriet while sitting in a wicker lounge chair at the Ottawa Civic Hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Princess
Princess Juliana of the Netherlands with\u00a0two\u00a0nurses at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. They are standing around the bassinet that was used following the birth of Princess Margriet in January 1943.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Carrying the legacy forward through innovation and care<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The visit also highlighted the transition from the Civic Campus to The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s future campus under construction near Commissioners Park \u2014 home to many of Ottawa\u2019s tulip beds. This meaningful connection links a place of historical significance with a location that will soon represent the future of health care in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focused on enhancing patient experience, the new campus will have 641 single-patient rooms, expanded trauma and emergency services, modern surgical suites and dedicated space for research and education. The facility will improve access to care, support innovation and meet the growing health needs of patients across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ambassador\u2019s visit offered a moment to reflect on The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s history \u2014 while looking ahead to a future in innovation, care and international friendship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dutch Ambassador Margriet Vonno visited our Civic Campus to present tulips to hospital staff, honouring the longstanding bond between Canada and the Netherlands and celebrating Princess Margriet\u2019s legacy as The Ottawa Hospital looks to the future of health care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":220417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[433],"class_list":["post-220416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-celebrate-our-staff"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}