The Ottawa Hospital Site Review: Public Consultations

More than 8,000 people provided their input on the draft selection criteria and potential federal sites for the new Civic Campus.

Support for the draft criteria was high

Most of the draft criteria were deemed to be important to participants. Functional and Operational draft criteria and Regional and Local Interest criteria were viewed as being the most important.

The top three rated criteria relate to accessibility of the site:

1. 85% of participants ranked Emergency access to arterial roads, major highways and air ambulance as important
2. 84% of participants ranked Preparedness and responsiveness to major emergencies, including number of access points as important
3. 81% ranked Integration with the transportation network, including access for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists as important

Here are the criteria in each category that you evaluated as the most important:

Functional and operational hospital interests

• Emergency access to arterial roads, major highways and air ambulance (85%)
• Size of site supports hospital’s functional needs (79%)
• Site is within the urban area and close to amenities (69%)

Regional and local interests

• Preparedness and responsiveness to major emergencies, including a number of access points (84%)
• Integration with the transportation network, including access for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists (81%)
• Integration with the public transit network (78 %)

Capital interest

• Impact on the natural environment, including valued ecosystems, species at risk and ecological corridors (57%)
• Impact on cultural resources, such as UNESCO World Heritage sites, national historic sites, designated buildings and archaeological sites (53%)
• Impact on publicly used Capital green spaces and recreational pathways (50%)

Central location and protection of research focus of comments on sites

With respect to the 12 proposed federal sites, the comments focused primarily on the suitability of the four proposed sites at the Central Experimental Farm.

• Those who advocated for using these lands argued that Ottawa requires a centrally located hospital that is close to the main transportation network links.
• Those who argued against using lands at the Central Experimental Farm emphasized that important agricultural research will be threatened if one of these sites is chosen.
• Those who advocated for other sites typically mentioned Tunney’s Pasture and the Booth Street Complex, because these locations are close to transportation links.