Council votes in favour of funding plan for Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus
Posted May 11, 2022 09:00:00 PM.
Ottawa city council voted in favour of a plan to raise $150 million for the Ottawa Hospital's new Civic Campus.
The $2.8 billion state-of-the-art project aims to provide highly specialized medical care including increased inpatient units and a major centre for advanced medical and clinical research.
During the city council meeting on Wednesday, May 11, several councillors argued that health care is a provincial responsibility, therefore the funding for the project should fall solely on the provincial government and not the municipal government.
Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan suggested a motion that the City of Ottawa could implement a lottery fundraising system similar to the Princess Margaret Hospital lottery.
“We've seen these lotteries in the past and there is a great big incentive, like a cash gift or a prize that can won,” she said. “I think a lottery would be a great idea and would be welcomed by a lot people who have maybe deeper pockets than the average tax-payer in the city.”
Even though one of the four guiding principles of the motion suggested that there will be limited to no financial burden for the Ottawa taxpayers, a few city councillors argued otherwise.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney and Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans touched on the possibility that the City of Ottawa may already be burdened with other municipal issues such as transit, paramedic services, walking and bicycle pathways.
“We don't have the revenue tools that provincial government has,” said Deans, adding that the money can should be allocated elsewhere in the city. “It's money that the City could expand on our own infrastructure and we have many needs, we know that.”
Coun. McKenney said environmental concerns surround the campus' four-storey parking garage which would accommodate approximately 2,500 parking spaces. The parking garage will also include a programmable space and a publicly accessible green roof space.
Once city council approves the guiding principals and framework needed for the new project, the City can start coming up with ways on how to raise the money needed for the new campus. The final decision on how the City plans to spend the $150 million will wait until the next council term.
The new Ottawa Hospital's Civic Campus is slated to open in 2028.