From Personal Experience to a Better Model of Care: The Story Behind painPRO Clinics

Every company has an origin story. For painPRO Clinics, that story began with a desire to do healthcare differently.

Pictured here is Michael Desrochers, Founder and CEO of painPRO Clinics, alongside a member of the painPRO team. More than two decades after beginning his career as a Registered Massage Therapist, Michael remains closely connected to the people, practitioners and communities that have shaped painPRO into what it is today.

But his path into healthcare was anything but conventional.

A Career Change That Became a Calling

Before entering healthcare, Michael worked in banking and finance and later spent time in the music industry. His transition into Registered Massage Therapy came later in life, at approximately 40 years old.

While attending massage therapy school in Ontario, his entrepreneurial instincts were already taking shape. Michael opened and operated a clinic while still completing his education, gaining firsthand experience with both patient care and the challenges healthcare practitioners face when building a practice.

That experience helped shape a belief that would become central to painPRO:

Healthcare practitioners should be able to focus on what they do best — helping people.

Michael also believed Registered Massage Therapists deserved to be recognized as an important part of the healthcare continuum, not simply as providers of relaxation massage, but as regulated healthcare professionals who can play a meaningful role in pain management, injury recovery and physical function.

Building a Clinic Around Practitioners and Patients

Michael opened his first Vancouver clinic in the early 2000s, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become painPRO Clinics.

His vision was to create an environment where healthcare professionals could concentrate on treating their patients while the clinic supported the administrative, operational and business infrastructure around them.

At the same time, painPRO was built around making quality healthcare easier for patients to access.

One of the early philosophies behind the organization summed it up simply:

“Pain Doesn’t Wait… Why Should You?”

That thinking helped shape a clinic model centred around accessible appointments, convenient online booking and professional healthcare environments focused on helping patients understand and manage pain.

Understanding That Pain Is More Than an Injury

As Michael’s clinical experience grew, so did his perspective on pain.

An important part of his approach became the biopsychosocial model of pain — the understanding that pain can be influenced by a combination of biological, psychological and social factors rather than simply an injured muscle, joint or tissue.

That broader perspective helped shape painPRO’s evolution from its massage therapy roots into a multidisciplinary healthcare organization.

Today, painPRO brings together professionals across:

• Registered Massage Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Chiropractic
• Kinesiology and Active Rehabilitation
• Acupuncture
• Registered Clinical Counselling
• Occupational Therapy
• Clinical Pilates and Functional Fitness

The goal is to give patients access to professionals from multiple healthcare disciplines and create opportunities for more collaborative care.

Supporting Mental Health as Part of the Healthcare Conversation

The addition of Registered Clinical Counselling reflects painPRO’s broader understanding of health and recovery.

Physical pain, chronic pain, injury, stress, anxiety and emotional health can intersect in complicated ways. For some patients, addressing only the physical component of their experience may not tell the whole story.

Clinical Counselling provides patients with access to qualified mental health professionals who can support the psychological and emotional components of health alongside the physical care available throughout the painPRO network.

It is another example of the philosophy that has continued to guide the organization:

Treat the person, not simply the symptom.

Supporting the Communities We Serve

For Michael, building painPRO was never intended to stop at the clinic doors.

One of painPRO’s core values is Pay It Forward — a commitment to using the company’s time, expertise and resources to make a positive contribution to the communities it serves.

Over the years, that philosophy has included charitable donations, support for local and international non-profit organizations, community initiatives and opportunities for practitioners to contribute their clinical expertise.

painPRO reports contributing more than $500,000 in charitable donations throughout its history.

Michael has also personally contributed his time to organizations including ElderDog, Arts Umbrella and The Children’s Wish Foundation, extending the company’s philosophy of community involvement beyond traditional healthcare.

Supporting Artists, Dancers and the Arts Community

The arts have become another meaningful part of painPRO’s community involvement.

painPRO has supported Arts Umbrella, one of Canada’s leading organizations providing arts education and opportunities to young people.

The connection between painPRO and the performing arts is particularly natural.

Dancers, musicians, performers and other artists place unique physical and psychological demands on themselves. painPRO practitioners have worked with members of the performing arts community, including dancers and performers associated with organizations such as Arts Umbrella, and Ballet BC.

Supporting these communities reflects a broader view of what health and performance can mean.

For an athlete, performance might mean returning to competition.

For a parent, it might mean being able to play with their children without pain.

For a dancer, musician or artist, it can mean continuing to practise and express the craft that forms an important part of their identity.

Every person’s reason for wanting to feel better is different.

Helping them get there is what matters.

More Than Two Decades of Growth

What began as a single clinic has grown into a network of painPRO Clinics throughout the Lower Mainland, supporting more than 100 healthcare professionals and having provided care to more than 150,000 patients.

More than one million treatments have been delivered across the organization.

But the larger story of painPRO is not simply about the number of clinics, practitioners or appointments.

It is about creating a healthcare organization built around the belief that better outcomes can come from listening, collaboration, continual learning and community.

From expanding multidisciplinary healthcare and Clinical Counselling to supporting charities, artists, dancers and local organizations, Michael’s original vision continues to influence how painPRO operates today.

The Values Behind painPRO

Four values continue to guide the organization:

Improve Lives.

Make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients, practitioners and the communities around us.

Inspire Change.

Challenge conventional thinking and continually look for better ways to deliver healthcare.

Be Open Minded.

Remain curious, continue learning and recognize that health, pain and recovery are rarely one-dimensional.

Pay It Forward.

Use our success, knowledge and resources to help strengthen the communities that have supported us.

More than two decades after Michael began his journey into healthcare, those principles remain at the heart of painPRO.

Because ultimately, the mission has always come back to helping people do more of what matters to them.

Relief. Recover. Perform.