The hospital was championed largely by
Harold Fisher following the
1918 flu pandemic. While the facility is today located in an urban location, Fisher faced ridicule at the time for advocating for a location in the then-countryside and the project was branded by some as "Fisher's Folly". • 1924 – The Ottawa Civic Hospital opened with 550 beds. In 1921, the construction of the Civic hospital was estimated to cost $1,500,000. • 1929 – The Depression increased the number of patients who couldn't pay for care and major outbreaks of scarlet fever, diphtheria and tuberculosis affected health-care workers. • 1930 – A staff immunization program reduced the severity of the outbreaks. • January 19, 1943 – During
World War II, when Canada provided
refuge to the
Dutch royal family, then-
Princess Juliana gave birth to her daughter
Princess Margriet in Ottawa at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The hospital's maternity ward was
temporarily declared to be extraterritorial so that Margriet would inherit only Dutch citizenship from her mother. • 1950s – A number of expansions maintained the Civic's position at the forefront of medicine in Ottawa. • 1966 – The first successful kidney transplant in Ottawa was performed. • 1976 – The University of Ottawa Heart Institute opened. The Heart Institute is Canada's largest and foremost heart health centre dedicated to understanding, treating and preventing heart disease. It is Canada's only complete cardiac centre. == Services and programs ==