Nature of Action: Jeremy (Brent) Rowland voluntarily entered into an undertaking and consent agreement with the Inquiry Committee of CMTBC.

As part of the agreement, Mr. Rowland agreed to the following terms:

1. a one-month suspension (served);
2. a formal reprimand;
3. conditions on his practice of massage therapy, namely that:
   
   1. he will ensure there is no mirror present in any treatment room in which he provides massage therapy, at the time at which he is practicing in that treatment room; and
   2. for one year from the date on which he resumes the practice of massage therapy, he will not engage in solo practice (i.e., he will only practice massage therapy if another registered massage therapist or other regulated health professional, or member of clinic staff, is present in the same premises or location);
4. completion of coursework on professionalism, ethics and boundaries;
5. random audits for a period of eighteen months;
6. undertakings not to repeat the conduct and to comply with section 1 of CMTBC’s standard of practice on boundaries and section 11 of CMTBC’s practice environment standard; and
7. a period of mentorship with an RMT mentor, to include instruction on professionalism and draping.

Reasons: The undertaking and consent agreement relates to an investigation initiated on the Inquiry Committee’s own motion, based on information received from members of the public.

As part of the undertaking and consent agreement, Mr. Rowland admitted that, during massage therapy appointments in October 2018, while patients were present in his practice environment, he exchanged text messages with a third-party that included an explicit, intimate and sexual discussion. He also admitted that from about 2003 until about 2019, he had a mirror placed in his treatment room in a manner which resulted in one or more patients perceiving that Mr. Rowland may have viewed their exposed body in the mirror. He also admitted that from about 2003 until about 2019, he engaged in draping practices which on one or more occasions caused the exposed bodies of one or more female patients to be exposed to Mr. Rowland’s view while the patient was turning over on the massage table.

Mr. Rowland acknowledged that by engaging in the conduct described above, he committed professional misconduct within the meaning of section 26 of the Health Professions Act.

The Inquiry Committee considered Mr. Rowland’s admitted conduct to be serious. The Inquiry Committee is satisfied that the undertaking and consent agreement in this matter appropriately reflects the seriousness of the registrant’s admitted conduct and will protect patient safety.  

After signing the undertaking and consent agreement, Mr. Rowland resigned his registration with CMTBC (on December 9, 2021). He is now a former registrant.