2005 News Releases

For immediate release - February 1, 2005

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation Launches 2005 Lottery with More Than $2.7 Million in Prizes to be Won

(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) - The Ottawa Hospital Foundation today launched its ninth annual lottery with more than 4,400 prizes, worth over $2.7 million, to be won. The Ottawa Hospital Lottery is the region’s richest, with the lowest odds of winning for any hospital lottery in Eastern Ontario.

This year’s grand prize is a dream home worth more than $1 million. The second-place winner can choose a $150,000 country home or $100,000 in cash. Other prize highlights include six Ford vehicles; 24 sun-soaked vacations, including nine cruises and 15 all-inclusive vacations; more than $145,000 in jewellery; an East African Safari; a Grand Canyon adventure; five home furnishings shopping sprees worth $20,000 each; Cisco Systems Bluesfest passports; and much more.

This year’s early bird draw features a $66,000 first-prize package that includes a 2005 Ford Mustang GT convertible and groceries for a year, as well as bonus prizes of a vacation package and 1,200 additional Lottery tickets. The deadline for the early bird draw is Friday, April 22, 2005.

And for the first-time ever, The Ottawa Hospital Lottery is holding a special pre-early bird draw – the Valentine’s Day Bonus Draw – for a $4,887 diamond ring. The public has until midnight tonight to buy a ticket and qualify for the February 14 draw.

Tickets are priced at $100 and only 45,000 will be sold.

“When you buy a ticket for The Ottawa Hospital Lottery, not only do you have an excellent chance to win great prizes, you are also helping build a better hospital for our community,” said Susan Doyle, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

“With the support of the community, an exciting future is beginning to unfold at The Ottawa Hospital,” said Dr. Jack Kitts, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital. ”Our vision is to become Canada’s hospital of choice for patients and doctors. This lottery will help us raise more than $1 million to achieve that end.”

Proceeds from this year’s Ottawa Hospital Lottery will help fund a number of improvements in patient care at The Ottawa Hospital, including:

• Doubling the size of the emergency departments and converting them into state-of-the-art facilities.
• Doubling the number of beds in the intensive care units of the Civic and General campuses.
• Adding new, state-of-the-art operating rooms.

Brochures with full contest details will be delivered to Ottawa households beginning February 5. Orders can be placed by mail using the order form provided in the brochure; by telephone at (613) 783-9550 or 1-800-853-6955; in person at the Civic, General, or Riverside campuses; or at any of Ottawa’s major chartered banks. Complete prize information, lottery rules and details on how and where to order your tickets will also be available at www.ottawahospitallottery.com starting February 1.

The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is a multi-campus, academic health sciences centre, serving 1.5 million residents of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, both in English and French. It provides care for more patients than any other hospital in Canada, and boasts specialty centres in cancer, heart, kidney and vision care, as well as rehabilitation services. Working together with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the University of Ottawa, and other partners, TOH is gaining national recognition for high-quality patient care, teaching and research. It ranks as one of the most efficient teaching hospitals in the country. 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 health care 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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