Summary of Public Meeting

Last evening, the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association held our open meeting with the Ottawa Hospital and Champlain Local Health Integration Network.

We would like to extend our thanks to those residents who were able to attend the meeting last evening. We had almost 60 neighbours in attendance, and certainly reinforced how important the future of the Civic is to both this community, and surrounding neighbourhoods.

We would also like to thank Cameron Love from the Ottawa Hospital and Chantale Leclerc from the Champlain LHIN for their participation last evening. Yasir Naqvi, our local MPP, was also in attendance, and Kitchissippi Ward councillor Christine Leadman is also closely following this issue.

A few notes:

• Cameron Love made a formal presentation to the audience last evening, that included a review of plans not only of the Civic Hospital, but also of the General and Riverside campuses. There are a significant number of issues and considerations on the table for the future development of health care services as a whole, including how best to provide health care services to the City and to the region, the inadequecy of current facilities and the future demands that are anticipated as the city and region continue to grow. We have asked Mr. Love for a copy of this presentation, and will post it on this site when it is available;
  
• The primary focus of questions and comments related to the future of the Civic site. Two options are being considered at this time by the Ottawa Hospital in the existing plan, and this plan has been submitted to the Champlain LHIN for approval. The current proposals are relocation of the Civic Hospital across the street to a 60 acre parcel of land on the Experimental Farm, or to the corner of Woodroffe and Hunt Club on NCC land across from the Nepean Sportsplex.
  
• The basic argument in favour of a new facility is that the current Civic Campus is far too inadequete to renovate to current and future standards. Similarly, the suggestion of the Ottawa Hospital is that a phased demolition and construction of a new facility on the existing Parkdale and Carling site will be far more costly that building a "greenfield" location. A number of questions arose specifically on this issue - including what data might be available to validate this argument, what could potentially come of the site if the existing facility were moved in terms of continuing health services, and what impact this would have on basic and emergency hospital services for residents in the downtown core and West Ottawa;
  
• There were a wide range of other questions from the floor that resulted from this presentation, including the coordination of expansion plans with the City of Ottawa's master plan and public transit plan, accessibility issues, and the preservation of world class services such as are provided by the Ottawa Heart Institute;
  

Our Position:

• The CHNA is maintaining an active role in the future plans of the Civic Campus. We currently have two members sitting on the Ottawa Hospital Community Access Committee - Keith Hobbs and Kate Harrigan - and will continue to engage in open dialogue with the OH and Champlain LHIN in the weeks and months ahead;
  
• In addition, we have established a Civic Hospital working committee to review this issue.
  
• We have not formalized positions on the key issues related to the existing plan at this point, but are asking for the input of the community in this process. We have also engaged with a number of other local neighbourhood associations, including Carlington Park, Island Park, Hintonburg and the Glebe. These associations will be included in all future open meetings.
  
  
• It is clear that residents of the CHNA would strongly prefer maintaining the Civic Campus at the current location. How this can be achieved will be a large part of our focus as we move forward. We are well aware of concerns that many have with respect to a move out of the neighbourhood. This is a large employer, and many residents of the Civic and surrounding areas are able to live and work in the same area. The Civic and Royal Ottawa also anchor a important medical services strip along Carling Avenue. At the same time, we know that many residents are passionate about preserving the Experimental Farm.
  

Moving forward and how you can become engaged:

• The meeting last evening was a positive first step in maintaining an active and open dialogue with the Ottawa Hospital and Champlain LHIN. All residents feel strongly that we want to ensure best possible health care delivery for the City and the region, but also want to ensure that we are actively part of the process;
  
• The working committee that the CHNA has established can certainly use additional volunteers. If you are interested in participating in this committee, please send an e-mail to scottbradleyottawa@gmail.com indicating your interest. We have been meeting on a monthly basis, but anticipate that we will require a number of research projects to be undertaken over the next few months, and could use the help.
  
• We are still growing our contact base. The easiest way to get updates is to simply register your e-mail on this site and meeting bulletins will be sent directly to you. Otherwise, please forward your e-mail and we will add it to the mailing list.
  
• In addition, both Yasir Naqvi and Christine Leadman continue to be active on this issue, have an open door with the Association, and are always open to views from the community. Please don't hesitate to contact them directly.
  
• Finally, the comment section is open on this site. At this point, we think this may be a great way for residents in the Civic Hospital and surrounding areas to voice your opinions. This will help the working committee out considerably in gauging interest and ideas. We would ask that if you are making a comment, that you keep the tone respectful.