The Ottawa Hospital
A year ago TOH launched a new strategic plan to guide our hospital on the next phase of our journey as we emerged from the pandemic. Since then we have begun to fulfill our commitments, investing in our strategic priorities with new ideas and infrastructure as we lay the foundation for a more responsive and resilient regional health care system for the 21st century.
Enriching the Quality of Care for Patients, embodies our vision and expresses our daily commitment to our patients. In part this means stabilizing and improving access to services for patients and families. This past year we have expanded our programs regionally by launching new surgical programs, supporting regional emergency departments, creating new transitional care units and establishing new partnerships with community-based clinics. All these efforts aim to improve access to health care for our community. Creating infrastructure for the future has also been a priority as we continue to design and build our new campus. We are also expanding our regional Epic web platform to support the integration of services across our region and we have begun examining how best to integrate artificial intelligence and other advanced digital platforms in the near future.
Igniting the Power of People is a key success factor for our future. Our teams of dedicated staff and physicians have always been the foundation of our success as a great organization and we are on a path to rebuilding this foundation following the severe impacts of the pandemic. This past year we took strides in promoting a culture of wellness at TOH and rolled out new tools and resources to stabilize our teams. We are focused more than ever on the recruitment and retention of staff, and we are collaborating to find new ways to support the countless hardworking people in this organization.
As you’ll see in this report, we’ve also worked hard to shift our culture to become far more representative of our community, Nurturing our Social Responsibility. We’ve made real efforts to understand what this means as engaged members of diverse communities and not just as health care providers. These very human efforts often directly impact health outcomes as well as patient experiences. They reflect our commitment to continuing to improve the quality of care we offer, through innovative initiatives like our new satellite sites in the community and across the region and the work we’re doing with marginalized populations.
We have also been Accelerating Discovery by rethinking our entire research and innovation platform, opening up exciting new possibilities for the future and ensuring that our community continues to have access to truly revolutionary new treatments developed by world class researchers at TOH. Among other important steps, we’ve hired a visionary new Executive Vice-President of Research and Innovation at TOH, Dr. Aur who will continue to offer hope to our patients by advancing world class research at TOH and beyond. We’re also making significant new investments in our internationally renowned Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre, where stem cells, cancer-killing viruses, gene therapy, and more are used to improve and save lives. And of course, world-class research facilities are an integral part of the new 2.5 million square foot state-of-the-art campus we’re currently building on Carling Avenue.
Reflecting on our efforts and achievements at The Ottawa Hospital this past year, we can’t help but see a profound synchronicity with the events of a century ago, which led to the opening of Ottawa’s Civic Hospital in 1924. Today, however, TOH isn’t just building a new world-class hospital, we’re also working tirelessly to build a stronger, better health care system, for all.
Claude Doucet
Chair, Board of Governors, The Ottawa Hospital
Cameron Love
President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Research teams at The Ottawa Hospital continued to make exciting advances in medical science this year, resulting in promising new treatments for patients, improved health-care practices, groundbreaking discoveries and innovative commercial applications.
We led world-first studies to heal the lungs of premature babies, reduce the need for blood transfusions and see inside the brain like never before. We also advanced global science in areas such as blood vessel development, cancer immunology, neuromuscular disease, regenerative medicine and more.
Building on our unique success in biotherapeutics research, we received an unprecedented award from the federal government to build a world-class biomanufacturing centre at our new campus. This facility will ensure that The Ottawa Hospital continues to be a leader in developing and bringing innovative biological therapies to patients.
We also continued to advance initiatives in our strategic plan related to strengthening clinical research, supporting trainees, enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion, engaging in truth and reconciliation and protecting planetary health.
In the coming year, we have much to look forward to. We will welcome Dr. Rebecca Auer as the new CEO and Scientific Director of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and Executive Vice-President of Research and Innovation at The Ottawa Hospital. We will also welcome Paul Davidson as the new OHRI Board Chair. We are also in the midst of transitioning to a new Scientific Program structure that is designed to strengthen the full spectrum of health research and increase alignment with Clinical Departments.
It has been an honour and a privilege for both of us to serve the hospital and research institute for many years. We will step down from our leadership positions at the end of June 2024, knowing that research at The Ottawa Hospital will be in good hands
This is a very exciting time for health research and innovation in the National Capital Region, with transformative projects on the horizon not only for The Ottawa Hospital, but also for the University of Ottawa and other partners. Working together, we can solidify our position as a major hub for translating bioscience and health innovation into better health care.
On behalf of the OHRI Board of Directors and Senior Leadership Team, we thank all our dedicated trainees, researchers, clinicians and staff for their hard work and dedication to harnessing research to reshape the future of health care. We also thank the many patients, donors and partners who contribute to our research.
Katie Lafferty
Chair, Board of Directors, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Dr. Duncan Stewart
CEO and Scientific Director, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Executive Vice-President, Research, The Ottawa Hospital
Professor, University of Ottawa
The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
In the past two years since we publicly launched our Campaign to Create Tomorrow, we’ve taken exciting strides forward to support the new hospital campus and world-leading research. We’ve already reached $331 million of our ambitious $500-million goal — and we have no plans to slow down.
Our incredible team of donors and volunteers helped us reach this success, and we’re excited for the new faces joining the campaign daily. Our growing team is made up of supporters who come from all corners of the region — they are in high tech, finance, and construction, and also leaders within The Ottawa Hospital.
We’ve also seen the return of our President’s Dinner and continue to build on the success of our President’s Breakfast and a multitude of unique campaign events — big and small.
In January, we launched our 100 Moments series, which explores 100 fascinating moments from the past century of the Civic Campus. We’ve also had the privilege this past year to continue sharing the stories of recent patients, of experts across a range of fields, and of the innovations and discoveries taking place right here at our hospital. All these stories were impacted by donor support.
We’re grateful for the trust the community has in us, and we are proud to have once again been named a High Performer by the Association of Healthcare Professionals (AHP). This is our 11th consecutive year earning this title, which is awarded based on key industry metrics, making us one of the most efficient healthcare foundations in Canada.
The Campaign to Create Tomorrow will benefit us all, and there’s a place for everyone to participate. No gift is too small, and if you’re interested in joining the campaign as a volunteer or donor, reach out to us at creatingtomorrow@toh.ca. We need you!
Together, we can help reshape healthcare across our region.
With gratitude,
Janet McKeage
Chair, Board of Directors, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
Tim Kluke
President and CEO, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation