Sunniva Inc. Announces Cannabis Telehealth Service Agreement Between Natural Health Services Ltd and HelloMD to Expand Patient Reach With Enhanced Medical Cannabis Services in Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunniva Inc. (“Sunniva”, the “Company”, “we”, “our” or “us”) (CSE:SNN) (OTCQB:SNNVF), a North American provider of cannabis products and services, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary,  Natural Health Services Ltd. ("NHS"), will partner with HelloMD, a leading online cannabis telehealth company, to offer telemedicine services to its patients to provide more Canadian communities with convenient access to medical cannabis advice.

NHS operates a network of seven clinics specializing in medical cannabis in four provinces and has approximately 105,000 registered patients. In this joint effort, HelloMD will provide its turnkey set of white-label services to NHS, affording existing and future NHS patients the added option and convenience of an online health care practitioner consultation. In addition, NHS will have the opportunity to extend its services to areas where they do not currently have clinics, to reduce wait times, and to offer the convenience of evening and weekend consultations.

“This partnership is about both companies focusing on what they do best,” said Larry Lisser, HelloMD’s SVP of Business Development. “HelloMD’s telehealth service extends access to practitioner-led advice to more Canadians, while our integration with the NHS platform enables their patients to seamlessly benefit from the educational services NHS is so well known for. This is a win for patients all around.”

NHS patients will be first directed to a co-branded landing page on the HelloMD platform. Those patients who receive a medical document from HelloMD will be seamlessly transferred to an NHS Patient Educator who in turn helps them to understand the various options available and assists them in the selection of a Licensed Producer from which to buy medical cannabis.  

Dr. Mark Kimmins, Medical Director and Interim President of NHS commented, “Partnering with HelloMD enhances the NHS mission to improve the way Canadians access safe, regulated medical cannabis and education on how to use cannabis to improve health and quality of life. By utilizing the telehealth expertise of HelloMD, we will be able to increase our patient base and serve the needs of more Canadians.”

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About HelloMD:
HelloMD has facilitated more than 100,000 virtual consults between medical cannabis patients and licensed practitioners. The company’s white-label solutions enable third parties to quickly deploy a turnkey telehealth solution, complete with the technology, practitioners and support personnel required to improve their own patient onboarding processes.

For further information about HelloMD:
Email: partners@hellomd.com
Visit: https://www.hellomd.com 

About Sunniva Inc.
Sunniva, through its subsidiaries, is a vertically integrated cannabis company operating in the world’s two largest cannabis markets – Canada and California.  Our ability to leverage our large-scale, purpose-built cGMP designed greenhouses, offering better quality assurance with cannabis products free from pesticides, uniquely positions Sunniva as a leading supplier of safe, high quality products at scale. Through our strategically positioned cultivation and extraction facilities, we are launching Sunniva branded products in various product categories including flower, pre-rolls, beverages, vape cartridges, extracts as well as aggressively pursuing upstream vertical opportunities including distribution and retail expansion. Sunniva's management and board of directors have a proven track record for creating significant shareholder value both in the healthcare and biotech industries.

About Natural Health Services Ltd. (“NHS”)
NHS owns and operates a network of seven clinics in Canada specializing in medical cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Canada).  NHS connects patients with safe and effective medical cannabis products through Licenced Producers. NHS has in-house physicians and nurse practitioners specializing in the endocannabinoid system providing expert consultation, education, and recommendations for patients. NHS’ proprietary technology infrastructure assists physicians, patients and LPs to comply with the rules of Health Canada.  NHS currently has approximately 105,000 registered patients.

This news release includes statements containing certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law ("forward-looking statements"), including, but not limited to, statements relating to the proposed benefits of the partnership between NHS and HelloMD. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.