The Ottawa Civic Hospital is one of three main campuses of

The Ottawa Hospital The Ottawa Hospital () is a hospital system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The system was formed through the merger of the former Grace Hospital, Ottawa Riverside Hospital, Ottawa General Hospital and Ottawa Civic Hospital. The system is affiliate ...

– along with the General and Riverside campuses. With 549 beds (including the Heart Institute), the Civic Campus has the region's only adult-care trauma centre, serving

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,892,332 in 2021) () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawr ...

, the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

region of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and eastern

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

. The Civic Campus also houses the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

Heart Institute, which provides

cardiac The heart is a muscular organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissu ...

care for patients at The Ottawa Hospital. The Civic Campus opened in 1924 and is located at 1053 Carling Avenue in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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, Canada.

History

The hospital was championed largely by Harold Fisher following the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

. While the facility is today located in an urban location, Fisher faced ridicule at the time for advocating for a location in the then-countryside and the project was branded by some as "Fisher's Folly". * 1924 – The Ottawa Civic Hospital opened with 550 beds. It was built to replace three aging hospitals: the Carleton County Protestant General Hospital on

Rideau Street Rideau Street () is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier district. Ride ...

(now

Wallis House :''There is also a "Wallis House", an Art Deco building on the Golden Mile, The Great West Road, Brentford, England.'' Wallis House is a prominent landmark building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the corner of Rideau Street and Char ...

), which dated from the 1870s, as well as Ottawa Maternity and St. Luke's hospitals. In 1921, the construction of the Civic hospital was estimated to cost $1,500,000. * 1929 – The Depression increased the number of patients who couldn't pay for care and major outbreaks of scarlet fever, diphtheria and tuberculosis affected health-care workers. * 1930 – A staff immunization program reduced the severity of the outbreaks. * January 19, 1943 – During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when Canada provided refuge to the

Dutch royal family The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

, then-

Princess Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She r ...

gave birth to her daughter

Princess Margriet Princess Margriet of the Netherlands (Margriet Francisca; born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and ...

in Ottawa at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The hospital's maternity ward was temporarily declared to be extraterritorial so that Margriet would inherit only Dutch citizenship from her mother. * 1950s – A number of expansions maintained the Civic's position at the forefront of medicine in Ottawa. * 1966 – The first successful kidney transplant in Ottawa was performed. * 1976 – The University of Ottawa Heart Institute opened. The Heart Institute is Canada's largest and foremost heart health centre dedicated to understanding, treating and preventing heart disease. It is Canada's only complete cardiac centre. * 1982 – The Rich Little Special Care Nursery opened. The nursery provides enhanced level II care for premature infants and for term infants with health problems. * 1988 – The Loeb Research Institute opened. * April 1, 1998 – The Civic, General and Riverside hospitals amalgamated to form The Ottawa Hospital. * 2006 – A expansion to the Civic Campus Emergency Department was completed. * 2013 – The Ontario Government announced a $200-million expansion of the Heart Institute. * 2016 – The

Sir John Carling Building The Sir John Carling Building was located along Carling Avenue at the Central Experimental Farm, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Until 2010, it was the headquarters of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, containing administration facilities and the offi ...

site was selected as the future home of the new Civic Campus, with expected completion in 10 years.

Services and programs

The Civic Campus is the region's only adult-care trauma centre, treating the most critical health needs. It is the regional centre for cardiac and stroke care, treating patients from eastern Ontario, western Quebec and eastern Nunavut. Between April 2013 and March 2016, the Civic Campus had 6,595 visits from Nunavut patients. The University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre – the largest centre in Canada and one of the largest in North America – is also located at the Civic Campus. The Regional Geriatric Program of Eastern Ontario, Breast Health Centre and Bariatric Centre of Excellence are all based at the Civic Campus.

References

External links

{{Authority control Hospitals in Ottawa Teaching hospitals in Canada Hospitals established in 1924 1924 establishments in Ontario Level 1 trauma centers