John Kelly Named Chairman of New Community Advisory Board for the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre

Community Leaders Max Keeping, Rabbi Bulka, Richard Patten, Jackie King, Stephen Lerner and Kyle Braatz Named Among Board Members

OTTAWA, May 26, 2014 /CNW/ - The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC), the first of its kind in Eastern Canada today announced the formation of a new Community Advisory Board to be chaired by John Kelly, one of Ottawa's most esteemed entrepreneurs for leading many notable companies. Several of Ottawa's community leaders have rallied together as Board members to help raise awareness of the OICC's leading edge approach to complementary cancer care and research.  (PHOTO: www.oicc.ca/mediakit)

"What really motivates me is how the OICC is committed to working alongside, and together with, conventional cancer care professionals and researchers," said John Kelly, Co-Founder Murphy Business Ottawa and Co-owner Comfort Keepers. "The OICC is not advocating an alternative approach to cancer treatment. Rather, a collaborative and innovative approach, that brings the best of both complementary and conventional care together, to provide patients with enhanced quality of life, reduced side effects and possibly extended life.  Through integrative oncology the OICC is filling a gap within the cancer care system. When I hear patients' stories I see the tremendous impact the Centre is having on those living with cancer. I am inspired to help grow the Centre, to ensure anyone who faces cancer has access to this complementary care."

"We are proud to have John Kelly serve as Chairman of the Community Advisory Board," said Dr. Dugald Seely, ND, Founder and Executive Director for the OICC. "John brings a wealth of experience and wisdom for growing organizations and we are delighted to benefit from his leadership on the Board.  The OICC is a charitable, not-for-profit cancer care and research centre but, in effect, we are also a social enterprise because without government funding we need to be self-sustaining as we continue to grow. We are committed to advancing complementary and integrative cancer care in Canada. Working with the Community Advisory Board as ambassadors of the OICC in the Ottawa community is a key part of our marketing and communications strategy, and we are grateful to have attracted such a high calibre and dedicated team of professionals."

John Kelly is one of the region's most respected serial entrepreneurs and, as such, was granted the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the Ottawa community in 2012.  In May 2014, Kelly was honoured at the 29th Annual CATAAlliance Innovation Awards for his outstanding technological innovation and corporate leadership which has significantly expanded the frontiers of Canada's advanced technology industry. The award was sponsored by the Telfer School of Management of the University of Ottawa and was voted on by CATA members.

Kelly is co-founder of Murphy Business Ottawa and also co-owner of Comfort Keepers, a homecare business. He is the former CEO of JetForm Corporation, and founded several businesses, including and among others SHL Systemhouse and NABU Network Corporation. Kelly is a board member of several private and public companies, as well as former chair of the United Way Ottawa Campaign, and former honorary chair of the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  Named as Ottawa's Most Respected CEO by Ottawa Business Journal, Kelly is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award, and has an honorary Doctorate from the University of Ottawa.

Other high profile members of the Community Advisory Board comprise a range of business and not-for-profit leaders, media and communications professionals, as well as former and current cancer patients, including:

• Max Keeping, Retired CJOH-TV News Anchor
• Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka, Spiritual Leader of Congregation Machzikei Hadas
• Richard Patten, Former MPP
• Jackie King, Senior VP & GM of Hill + Knowlton Strategies
• Stephen Lerner, Principal of Primecorp Commercial Realty Inc.
• Kyle Braatz, CEO of HealthWave
• Colleen Kanna, VP of Finance at ExitCertified Corporation
• David Nostbakken, President of N + N
• Sandra Harvey, President of Murphy Business Ottawa
• Natasha Fry, Accountant, Paramount Gold and Silver Corp.
• Terry Vida, Partner, ConversArt Consulting Ltd.

Max Keeping, Retired CJOH-TV News Anchor explains: "I joined the board to find out more about the care. Dr. Seely's patients kept telling me how much better they felt combining complementary care with their conventional treatments while I had been just doing my chemo and radiation. I love that what is offered here is complementary support.  And the community needs to know that happens here."

About the OICC

The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) is the first integrative cancer care and research centre of its kind in Central and Eastern Canada. As a not-for-profit, regional centre of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) the OICC welcomes patients at any stage and those wishing to prevent cancer or its recurrence. The OICC provides whole-person cancer care alongside conventional treatments to improve the quality of life, and to extend life where possible. The Centre works with patients and physicians, to provide therapeutic programs that decrease side effects and promote health during and after conventional treatments. Through clinical practice, research and education, the OICC strives to assess and reduce possible causes of cancer while exploring innovative integrative treatment approaches.

The OICC first opened in 2011, and tripled the size of its facility in 2012, in order to meet the needs of an increasing number of cancer patients seeking complementary care.  The OICC is led by Dr. Dugald Seely, ND, one of 12 naturopathic doctors in Canada accredited with the designation of Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO). Seely is also Director of Research and Clinical Epidemiology for CCNM, an Affiliate Investigator with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and past board member for the Society of Integrative Oncology. Seely comes from a family of medical pioneers, and is son of the late Dr. John Seely who was Dean of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and responsible for establishing the palliative care system in The Ottawa Hospital.

For more information, please visit www.oicc.ca and www.oicc.ca/mediakit

SOURCE: Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC)

To schedule an interview, please contact:

Heidi Vincent 
Marketing, Communications & Public Relations 
Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre
613-293-3564
[email protected]