I don't want to repeat the different criteria that need to be evaluated to make the transition, which my colleague has just listed. I just want to reiterate the importance of the links that have been established with the centres. These criteria were first evaluated by the centres' managers and our senior military representative in the field.
In Quebec, an agreement has been reached with the regional public health department, namely the Centres intégrés de santé et de services sociaux, or CISSS, and the Centres intégrés universitaires de santé et de services sociaux, or CIUSSS, and then with the ministry of health and social services. Once there's an agreement with the ministry on the joint assessment of the situation, we could proceed with the transition, with the authority of my supervisor in Ottawa.
I'd like to mention that we've served in 47 CHSLDs. The situation has improved significantly during our mandate. The situation was different in the 25 CHSLDs where we went first than in the 22 CHSLDs where we provided assistance afterwards, as the first wave was winding down. There was an improvement in the situation and our civilian partners were able to continue to carry out their functions in these centres.
I will end by talking about the Red Cross, whose members arrived after we left. They offered help in other centres with slightly different teams. We worked with them at different stages. The first stage was pre-deployment training, which was mandated by the ministry of health and social services and offered by the Red Cross.
In preparation for their mandate, there have been discussions at my level with the provincial director. At the tactical level, we worked with our commanders and health experts in the field to share our experience, observations and best practices.