Ontario Pharmacists Association feeling impact ofBill 102Underhanded appointment of unqualified CEO led to questionable

outcome for pharmacists

The Ontario Pharmacist’s Association is facing a difficult time coming to terms with their

previous CEO and his dubious ties with the Ontario Liberal government. The recent

passing of Bill 102 (Transparent Drug System for Patients Act) is estimated to save the

Ministry of Health approximately $250,000,000 per year in prescription handling fees, and

allows for a significant offloading of patient consultation time from physicians down to

pharmacists. However, the bulk of these savings come directly from the pharmacists’

operating profits, leaving rank and file members of the OPA wondering how and why their

CEO failed to negotiate an adequate solution with the government.

Marc Kealey was appointed as the Interim CEO for the OPA in 2004, later

becoming the CEO for this organization in 2006 – just in time to negotiate Bill 102 with

the Ontario government. Kealey’s resume was certainly impressive, indicating that he

“directed international and national policy, planning, and communications affecting

nuclear use in energy and medicine” as General Manager of the Atomic Energy of Canada

Limited, and as Vice President of Whitby General Hospital, “leading the charge on Acute

Care Restructuring and was instrumental in launching the new health care system in

Durham Region”.

Most important to the OPA were Kealey’s claims of having been a Chief Advisor to

both Prime Minister John Turner and Premier David Peterson. While Kealey was the first

and only CEO to not have any medical or pharmacy background, his appointment was

supported by Rob Modestino, OPA’s Chair of the Board, who stated that Kealey’s

“knowledge of government is invaluable”.

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As the OPA negotiated Bill 102 with George Smitherman’s Ministry, the media

took note of Kealey’s biases and ties with the Liberal Government. The OPA’s rank and

file membership expressed both concern and outrage that he was soft-pedaling negotiations

and letting the Ministry of Health roll over their association. When the OPA membership

demanded amendments to the Bill, Kealey assured them that he was “working quietly

behind the scenes to get changes in the legislation” and that he “was dealing with this in the

most professional and accurate way he could”.

As the Bill passed into law and Ontario pharmacists began to fully realize the

impact of this new legislation, disillusioned members formed splinter organizations to

protect their own interests. Ben Shenouda, President of the Independent Pharmacists of

Ontario which was formed in the wake of Bill 102, noted that he and his associates

provided critical information to Kealey to assist him with negotiations, but “he never even

bothered to read it”, adding “Mr. Marc Kealey did absolutely nothing for us”.

During this turmoil, Kealey became absent, suddenly falling ill with liver cancer,

later being discharged with a lucrative financial package. Struggling to realign and

reorganize, the OPA board was surprised to discover that Kealey had a fraudulent

background and career history as well as a criminal record. If that was not revelation

enough, it was also discovered that Kealey had a very close and very personal relationships

with the two main antagonists of the OPA; George Smitherman, the Ontario Minister of

Health and Long-Term Care, and Helen Stevenson, the Assistant Deputy Minister and

Executive Officer, Ontario Public Drug Programs.

Kealey not only proclaimed to have a Master’s Degree in Public Administration

from Kent State University, but he also asserted that he was a star player on that

university’s varsity football team; both claims known to be fabrications. The

accomplishments, awards and honours listed in his resume were found to have been

invented, grossly embellished, purchased over the internet, or won by others. While at the

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Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Whitby General Hospital, his core responsibilities

focused only on “communications”. He was not involved in writing nuclear policy or

negotiating with numerous foreign governments on behalf of the Atomic Energy of Canada

Limited; he merely issued press releases, but ended up being fired for sexual harassment.

Despite his claims to have spearheaded the merging of the Whitby General Hospital into

the Lakeridge Health Network, this restructuring occurred 2 years after Kealey was very

publicly fired from his communications position there for sexual misconduct. In contrast

to his claim of being a chief advisor to a Prime Minister and a Premier, his political career

consisted only of sporadic entry level positions and organizing birthday parties.

Most detrimental to the OPA, Kealey’s only real connection to government was a

25-year personal history George Smitherman, and a 10-year relationship with Helen

Stevenson. Based on the negotiation stance adopted by Kealey, he was more concerned

with appeasing his old friends than protecting the interests of the association he was there

to represent.

As the OPA membership faced the repercussions of Bill 102, Kealey was not there to

lead the organization through the difficult situation; he was busy leveraging an alleged case

of cancer, surgery and ongoing chemotherapy in the negotiation of a lucrative departure

package. Never having cancer, sources note that he shaved his own head to feign the side-

effects of chemotherapy.

Immediately following his departure from the OPA, Smitherman sent an email to

Kealey, thanking him for his “gracious support”. Shortly thereafter, during a dinner with

Smitherman, Kealey provided explicit details on how Ontario pharmacists were going to

“screw him [Smitherman]” during the upcoming election.

Whether Smitherman leveraged his relationship to affect smooth passage of the

Bill or if he merely benefited from Kealey’s incompetence and lack of experience is a

moot point as the trail of influence behind Kealey’s appointment to the OPA leads

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