First Cancer Survivorship Centre in Canada opens in Ottawa

OTTAWA – Canada’s first holistic cancer care centre opened its doors in Ottawa Thursday following a ribbon cutting ceremony held in the brand new facility. 

The Maplesoft Cancer Survivorship centre offers a unique approach to battling the disease for patients and their families, bringing together counselling, health and wellness, fitness, art therapy and one-on-one cancer coaching to provide well-rounded care not covered by other health-care services.

Members of all three levels of government helped to open the unique centre including Ottawa’s mayor, Jim Watson, local MP John Baird and local MPP Bob Chiarelli.

Watson struck a personal note, recalling his battle with skin cancer in 2007 and reminding those gathered that nearly everyone has been touched in some way by cancer.

“This is a place of comfort that is going to be used by literally thousands of our citizens, to bring that sense of peace and tranquility,” he said.

Baird spoke of his pride in being involved in taking the dream of the centre and making it a reality and lauded the efforts of all three levels of government working together with community leaders and community groups to achieve the common goal.

“Normally in Ottawa you see and hear a lot of bluster coming from politicians, from time to time it may be even coming from me,” Baird joked. “But when it really matters, when the cause is just, we all work together.”

Linda Eagan, the CEO of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, helped spearhead the effort to bring the centre together. She said she is not a pioneer but rather someone with a good ear who saw the need for better services and worked to make that happen.

“What we’re going to do here is very personal, it’s customized, we will be offering services that are unique in Canada,” she said. “We’ve built a team, a very powerful team, of cancer coaches, these individuals are health care professionals, they have a background in oncology and they are here to help each person one person at a time.”

The unique centre offers counselling services for groups and individuals that deal with every stage of the battle against cancer as well as nutrition and fitness training for total care for patients and their families.

Located at 1500 Alta Vista Drive, the centre sits beside the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivorship Park.

Starting on November 3, the Centre will provide support services that are not covered by standard medical treatment programs, for example psychosocial courses with topics that include cancer coaching, educational resources and training. Sample programs include a Cancer Connections Workshop, Eating Right Workshop, Reiki and Gentle Yoga. In addition, supportive group sessions such as Coping with Cancer and Living with Cancer.

All of the Centre’s programs are designed to compliment a cancer survivor’s medical care with the goal of further
enabling medical teams to focus on treating the clinical aspects of cancer.

“Today is the beginning of a new era for cancer care in the capital region, Canada and on a global stage. As the first Cancer Survivorship Centre of its kind in our country, this is truly a great day for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation and its many supporters, volunteers and donors in our community”, said Linda Eagen, President and CEO of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.  “The Maplesoft Centre will be a valuable resource for those living with cancer in our community and hopefully will become the first of many like facilities across Canada.”

Located adjacent to the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park in Ottawa, the 11,634 square foot Maplesoft Centre is designed to look and feel like a home. With the goal of creating a calm and tranquil setting, designers incorporated the five Wu Xing elements of fire,earth, metal, water and wood throughout the building. It is believed these elements, working in symbioses, aid in healing and coping with disease. With the goal of minimizing its environmental
footprint, the Centre also features an assortment of leading green products, including solar panels in the roof, radiant floor heating and carpet made of recyclable plastic.

The Maplesoft Centre was partially funded by the Provincial and Federal Government. Together, the Governments of Canada and Ontario invested $1.7 million. Canada’s funding is part of its national Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, under Canada’s Economic Action Plan.  Ontario’s matching contribution was provided through the 2009 Ontario Budget – Confronting the Challenge: Building Our Economic Future. The Cancer Foundation raised one third of the cost of the facility through private donations, including a $1.8 million investment from Ottawa based Maplesoft Group.