A Burnaby massage therapist who allegedly engaged in “non-therapeutic touching of sensitive areas of a patient’s body” has been temporarily banned from treating female patient.
Yifu (George) Qiu, a registered massage therapist who runs a clinic out of a South Burnaby house on Neville Street, has been ordered by the College of Massage Therapists of B.C. not to treat female patients and to post a notice about the ban in a prominent place and on all online booking pages associated with him.
The college said it got a complaint in April from a female patient who alleged Qiu had engaged in “unprofessional verbal communications” and in “non-therapeutic touching of sensitive areas of the patient’s body,” according to a notice of extraordinary action posted on the college website.
“The panel considered the allegations to be serious and found that there would be a risk of recurrence if an interim order were not mad,” stated the notice. “Therefore, it determined that the public must be protected by an interim order during the investigation and pending any disciplinary hearing.”
The allegations against Qiu have not been proven.
Along with the ban on treating female patients, Qiu will also be subject to random site audits by a college-appointed inspector and will have to provide the college with access every Friday to his calendar and to the name and contact information of each patient he has treated the preceding week.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
