Cowessess residents to access healthcare from their homes
- EFN Staff | May 20, 2020
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A collaboration aims to make virtual healthcare more accessible for a southern First Nation.
Cowessess First Nation teamed up with SaskTel and Lumeca Health – a virtual healthcare provider in Saskatchewan.
“This technology makes healthcare accessible to our First Nation,” said Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme in a media release. “It’s important our community members have the support and resources to take care of their health when they need it. Being able to access a doctor immediately for treatable conditions, from the comfort of our homes on reserve will really impact the quality of life for the Cowessess people as well better exercise our Treaty Right to Health.”
The announcement of the collaboration was made on May 19, on how they worked together to come up with a solution for residents of Cowessess First Nation.
“Lumeca continues to develop our platform to meet the needs of patients and doctors, especially with the new social distancing norm among us,” stated Shawn Hazen, founder of Lumeca. “We continue to innovate and are now developing new ways for patients to see their own family doctors, and for family physicians to reach their patients as continuity of care is vital to healthcare outcomes.”
Lumeca’s goal is to provide solutions that make virtual healthcare accessible to all Indigenous communities throughout Saskatchewan, with the help of companies like SaskTel.
Cowessess residents will be able to download and use the Lumeca app in the community by connecting to the band office’s Smart Wi-Fi powered by SaskTel.
David Ekstrand of SaskTel said broadband connectivity has become a powerful tool in the modern world, especially in rural areas where everything, including health care, can be dependent on that connection.
“We are very pleased to have worked with Lumeca on this initiative to make virtual healthcare more widely available to the residents of the Cowessess First Nation,” Ekstrand said.
Lumeca Health, founded in 2016, is a Regina based healthcare company that develops technology to grapple with some of the world’s leading healthcare issues.
Lumeca is available to all Saskatchewan residents with a valid Saskatchewan Health Card for COVID-19 screening and general health consultations. The app is free for all to download on the App Store (iPhone & iPad) or Google Play (Android).