Ottawa Hospital to get federal government land for new campus

The Ottawa Hospital will get access to 24 hectares of land from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for a new Civic campus, the federal government announced Monday.

Ottawa West-Nepean MP John Baird, the minister responsible for the National Capital Commission, made the announcement at the current Ottawa Hospital Civic campus alongside National Capital Commission CEO Mark Kristmanson and Ottawa Hospital CEO Dr. Jack Kitts.

A news release said up to 24 hectares of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada land will be transferred to the NCC for "the construction of a world-class hospital and teaching facility."

"The NCC is committed to working with its partners to foster design excellence in a new campus that complements the distinct heritage character of the Central Experimental Farm," said Kristmanson, referring to the property across the street from the current Civic campus in central Ottawa.

Kitts said the new facility would deal with the area's sickest patients and would be designed to do so, having a ratio of one bathroom per patient to cut down on infections, for example.

Baird said at a news conference the expansion will create up to 5,000 jobs and attract world-class researchers.

He said the government will lease the land at a cost of a dollar a year, which would save the hospital $50 million.

However, he said this is not a funding announcement but rather lays the foundation for expansion across Carling Avenue.

The federal government said in the news release that this announcement will help the Ontario government work on the Ottawa Hospital's master plan.

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