It would be an understatement to say medicine runs in the Halperin family.
Dr. Ross Halperin works with Kelowna’s B.C. Cancer Agency and is being recognized by BDO and the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce as a remarkable individual in the community.
The Halperin family is no stranger to community recognition for their work.
His father, Dr. Mitchell Halperin, was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada, his brother is cardiology medical director at Kelowna General Hospital, his mother and sister are nurses, his grandfather was a doctor and a dentist and his uncle, Dr. Sidney Halperin, was a physician during World War 1.
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In 2003, Ross moved to Kelowna to join the Kelowna Radiation Oncology department with B.C. Cancer, where he started the first regional prostate brachytherapy program in the province to complement the Vancouver program.
In 2015, he was appointed regional medical director and is responsible for overall medical leadership for oncology services in the Interior. His clinical and research work has focused on the care and treatment of patients with lung and prostate cancer and recently has focused on health services research.
Ross now has three children and says his family loves Kelowna life.
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Between 2003 and 2009, Halperin worked actively alongside the B.C. Cancer Foundation to lead a fundraising initiative to raise enough money to purchase equipment and open the first brachytherapy suite at the Sindi Hawkins Cancer Centre for the Southern Interior in Kelowna.
The convenience of brachytherapy is an important benefit to many prostate patients because they do not have to live in Kelowna to be treated. The ability to go home after treatment and recover there, surrounded by family, is an advantage Halperin said he is proud to be a part of providing.
The program has allowed his team to recruit world–renowned staff to Kelowna, like Dr. Juanita Crook who is changing the face of breast cancer treatment in B.C. using brachytherapy.
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Halperin received the B.C. Cancer Excellence Award in 2018 for teamwork and collaboration for the part he played on the 2017 emergency response flood and fire team.
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