It's extremely hard to attribute the increase to any one factor in particular. The knowledge we have of post-traumatic stress disorder has increased thanks to General Dallaire. The support of peer counsellors and information have encouraged more veterans to seek services. But there is also an increase in needs related to the types of missions facing the Canadian Forces. So it's very difficult to know what's what.
Clients may go to an outpatient clinic to get an assessment, which may take one, two or three hours. That isn't a full day or a half-day; in general, this involves shorter periods. Clients go to an outpatient clinic to meet a counsellor, either in an individual session or with their spouse, to take part in various therapeutic techniques in a group consisting of eight to 10 veterans.
The veterans who are in crisis, who need to be hospitalized, have access to all the beds and all the public emergency services across Canada. So we're responding to this needs segment. We also have internal programs, which are offered by private providers whom we reimburse for costs incurred. For example, with regard to the post-traumatic stress disorder program and substance abuse, we'll reimburse providers who care for our clients internally for two months. In the Quebec City region, we refer clients to CASA. We also have some stabilization beds at Ste. Anne's Hospital. We hope to start up a new hospital program to increase capacity.