2004 News Releases

For immediate release - August 24, 2004

NEW CIVIC EMERGENCY WAITING ROOM NAMED IN HONOUR OF MILLION-DOLLAR DONOR

(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) - The Ottawa Hospital Foundation today honoured million-dollar donor Peter Foustanellas at the opening of the new Foustanellas Family Waiting Room at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus Emergency Department.
Mr. Foustanellas, the founder of Argos Carpets and Olympia Homes, made his donation in December 2002.

“We want our hospital to be strong for our children and our children’s children,” said Mr. Foustanellas during a ceremony in his honour at the Civic Emergency Department today. “My family and I have received such excellent care at The Ottawa Hospital. My gift is my way of thanking the caring staff and physicians.”

The newly built waiting room is part of ongoing construction to expand the Emergency Department at the Civic Campus. When complete in 2005, the new department will feature:

• A state-of-the-art environment for treating seriously injured and ill patients
• More space for patients and health care teams to ensure privacy and comfort
• A “fast track” treatment area so that those with less serious medical problems can be treated quickly
• A new CT scanner right in the Emergency Department
• New, state-of-the-art critical care monitors and other medical equipment
• A separate, private area for patients and families experiencing mental health emergencies
• Play area, children’s room, and quiet rooms for people experiencing a crisis
• A new sexual assault centre

“We are extremely grateful to have generous donors, like Mr. Foustanellas, who are supporting ongoing improvements at the Hospital,” said Susan Doyle, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. “His gift is already having a tremendous impact on the health care of hundreds of thousands of people in this community.”

The Civic Campus Emergency Department was originally built for 30,000 visits a year; Last year alone, there were close to 60,000 emergency visits to this campus. When it is completed in 2005, the new department will accommodate 70,000 yearly visits.

The total project costs $21 million with $14 million from government and $7 million coming from community donations. The Ottawa Hospital Foundations needs to raise another $1 million before the end of this year to reach its $7 million objective.

With its 1,130 beds, The Ottawa Hospital is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Canada and one of the Ottawa area’s largest employers. It provides comprehensive, high quality, patient-focused health care services, in English and French, to over 1.5 million residents of Eastern Ontario, and specialized and complex services for residents of Northeastern Ontario. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Web site at www.ottawahospital.on.ca.

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s mission is to inspire and enable people to support the highest quality healthcare at The Ottawa Hospital and world-class research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Foundation Web site at www.ohfoundation.ca.

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