SmartLife Health

In an effort to improve access to primary care, we are providing residents with a new and exciting option at Riverwood Square.

For residents of the Landing at Riverwood Square, we are offering a comprehensive program that includes access to a dedicated healthcare team that provides care within the residence each week. Residents of the Landing who sign up for the program are provided with the entire team of healthcare professionals and services.

Our physician is Dr. Sean Desrochers and he will be supported by a network of allied health providers. Dr. Sean Desrochers is a family physician who completed his training at the University of Manitoba. He currently works at our LifeSmart Medical Osborne location that is located at confusion corner in Winnipeg (2-230 Osborne St).

Dr Desrochers will be supported by a licensed clinical assistant, Manmeet Grewal, who practices under Dr. Desrocher's license. This allows Manmeet to provide a variety of medical services that would normally by provided by the physician. Manmeet can complete physical exams, write prescriptions, review test results, and perform a variety of other medical skills as she practices in collaboration with Dr. Desrochers.

The team will attend to residents in their suites at scheduled dates and times for appointments. During an appointment, there may be multiple healthcare providers present, including the physician, the clinical assistant, a clinical pharmacist, or a student in training. While having multiple providers present can often by of benefit, there may be times where for privacy reasons, only one provider is present. Having multiple healthcare providers available for an appointment results in improved communication and efficiency. This allows our team to make collective decisions and implement a solution in real time without the delays we often experience in community healthcare.

To ensure we reduce the risk for poly-medicine, Dr Desrochers and Manmeet will only see residents that agree to have Dr. Desrochers serve as their new family physician. Seeing Dr. Desrochers for a walk-in appointment, while also having your care managed by another family physician, can create numerous risks. Dr Desrochers may not have all the detailed medical information if your medical chart is with another family physician. For this reason, we have determined that it is unsafe for Dr. Desrochers to provide care in this situation.

For residents who have chosen to transfer their care to Dr. Desrochers, both Dr. Desrochers and Manmeet will gladly provide acute care (walk-in) appointments for residents at Riverwood Square.

The process is easy and straight-forward. Residents, or a legal signatory, can sign our consent form that authorizes us to request a chart transfer from your current family physician. We submit the request on behalf and will receive the medical chart to upload into our system.

Please note that some medical clinics may charge a fee for the chart transfer request. This is not a charge that we cover and the fee may vary from clinic to clinic.

Once you have decided to transfer your care to Dr. Desrochers at LifeSmart Health, your medical chart will be available to the physician when he provided medical appointments at Riverwood Square. Your medical chart will also be accessible at Dr. Desrochers' medical clinic, LifeSmart Medical Osborne, for you to attend appointments at any time.

Dr. Desrochers and our medical team will be providing access to medical appointments directly at Riverwood Square each week. Residents will also be able to visit Dr. Desrochers at LifeSmart Medical Osborne for medical appointments on days when Dr. Desrochers is working at the clinic. Furthermore, residents will have reserved access to walk-in appointments at LifeSmart Medical Osborne in the event they need to come to the clinic on short notice.

We will also have the option of virtual appointments for appropriate situations in which Dr. Desrochers is not directly available at Riverwood Square.

We provide in residence medical appointments two days a week with the physician present for appointments on Tuesdays each week. In the event you would like to have an appointment on a day in which we are not in the residence, we do have the option to see the physician at our LifeSmart Medical Osborne clinic location for family medicine and walk-in appointments.

Unfortunately, in the event of an emergency, a resident will still have to go to urgent care or the nearest emergency department. Our program is a suitable replacement for access to primary care, however, when someone needs critical medical attention, the hospital will always be the best option.

As with other family medical clinics, our medical team has a clear hours of operation. Outside of the hours of operation, you will not have access to medical appointments. With that being said, our team will often receive test results or other communications after hours. While the medical team may not be available for an actual appointment, our team is often still monitoring for incoming results.

By having our clinical pharmacist present for appointments, we can submit the new prescription to the pharmacy and have an urgent medication delivered within a few hours.

No, you will not have to pay as there is no cost to our program.

When individuals receive care in hospitals or personal care homes, they end up receiving care from a dedicated healthcare team. This streamlines processes and results in a far more effective system. In an effort to offer the highest level of care, we have determined that the program can only operate effectively with the entire team included. This results in interested residents choosing to transfer their medical care and pharmacy services to our team.

No, all you will need for a virtual appointment is a phone. In the event the physician requires an in-person examination, they may request that an in-person follow up examination be scheduled at a later date. We understand that some virtual appointments are not ideal and we appreciate your patience with our team as we work through our interim medical coverage for the summer months.