Evidence of meeting #34 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was affairs.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
I would never presume to say that you're wrong.
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
Well, I wouldn't comment on that either.
What I would say is that we're at a point where we're looking at how we can best be configured for the future, demographics being what they are and with the changes in where our veterans are located. When you look at the future, they're settling closer to Canadian Forces bases and different places like that. So there are some areas where our population is reducing, to the extent that.... Is it sensible, if I can say that, to have a large physical office with a full health care team and everything else that goes with it to service the veteran population?
On the other side of it, are there case managers there who may be able to work in those locations—that's their territory, and they're on the road for that period of time? Yes, that's sensible, and that does work. That's worked in some northern areas of Canada already.
People contact us by telephone a lot. We don't get a lot of drop-in traffic in some offices. When people phone us and then they make an appointment to see us, we're able to send people out to see them.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
In terms of the telephone contact now, much of it is concentrated in your call centres in Montreal, Kirkland Lake, Dartmouth, and elsewhere. Would that be fair to say?
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
Yes, we have.... Your initial telephone call would be responded to by our client contact centre network.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Okay.
Do you anticipate that there will be a need in the short term for greater capacity by way of phone banks to replace district offices or to provide services that had previously been provided through district offices?
I guess my question is, are you going to need to bring in more people or to contract out call centre services in order to meet your objectives?
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
While I can't predict the future too far out, what I can say is that we do have client contact centres at the moment, and veterans do call. Their calls are responded to through our national network.
I don't envision that we are going to expand our national network to the extent that we're going to set up additional call centres across the country. By the same token, all of the calls that come into the department generally come in through our national centre. If you need to speak to someone specifically who deals with your case, who has specific information—if your questions can't be resolved at the initial contact point—then you're moved to case management or another area that can resolve the problem.
Conservative
Conservative
Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In fact we heard from previous witnesses that we've empowered some of our front-line workers to make decisions. Can you expand upon that and just provide some reassurance to Mr. Casey on how quickly, when individuals do call in and request service, they might be able to avail themselves of service?
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
We've gone through a relook at a number of business processes in the department. We've tried to have authority to make decisions delegated as close to the veteran as we possibly can.
So there have been a number of changes in the past that have resulted in authority to make decisions with respect to benefits and services being delegated to the people in the district office that's close to the individual—or, on the other side of it, the individual, when they're speaking on the phone, may be able to get sufficient information or have their treatment benefit determined such that if they need it immediately there's an answer for them right away.
Conservative
Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Very specifically, we heard, for instance, that when it comes to rehabilitation, that type of decision would previously have been made for a veteran at the upper echelons of management. Currently, the authority to make that type of decision has been passed down to our front-line staff. So the veteran actually receives a thumbs up or a thumbs down on whether rehabilitation will be funded much more quickly. Is that the case?
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
It is much more quickly. I believe that 85% of those kinds of decisions are made within a two-week period.
Conservative
Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
It's fair to say that services for veterans have actually improved and that the wait times have decreased.
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
Our wait times have definitely decreased.
Conservative
Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Thank you.
With respect to the operational stress injuries clinics network, can you tell me a little bit about how we're trying to meet the growing needs of veterans and our families?
Director General, Operational Stress Injuries National Network, Department of Veterans Affairs
As I was explaining at the beginning, we have 10 clinics across the country. Providing specialized services across Canada is really not easy, because a lot of our veterans don't live close to those clinics. We have to scale our network in order to have different modalities of access. For example, we have 10 sites. In some areas, staff from these clinics go on the road. They would go from Ottawa to Petawawa, for example, or from Winnipeg to Shilo. Staff from the clinics go where the veterans are.
One other area we are working on to provide better access is telehealth. Some clinics provide up to 15% of their stress treatment sessions through telehealth. It's a growing tool that is going to have increased use in the OSI clinics, because we don't have clinics in all of the provinces and major areas.
Actually, in one of the clinics, we're piloting the use of telehealth at home. We send the equipment to the veteran's home and he keeps it for the months he's in treatment. He hooks up though the Internet to his clinician at the clinic via a secure encrypted channel. That's going to help us even more in accessing those who go to remote areas. They often don't want to be seen seeking care in a small community, even if we have remote area services.
Conservative
Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Monsieur Lalonde, you just mentioned that there are 10 clinics. Your testimony, though, describes 17 facilities in partnership with DND. Can you expand upon those?
Director General, Operational Stress Injuries National Network, Department of Veterans Affairs
DND started to set up what they call the Operational Trauma and Stress Support Centres in the 1990s, before Veterans Affairs started our OSI clinics. What we offer are similar services. In most of the areas, there's either an OSI clinic or an OTSSC. Four major cities—Quebec City, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Fredericton—have both clinics. In those places, prior to the transition to civilian life, the members will be referred to the OSI clinic to have better continuity through a transition to Veterans Affairs services.
In other areas, such as in Halifax, veterans have access to the OTSSC operated by DND, and we provide access to CF members. For example, in Winnipeg, a lot of our clients at the OSI clinics are CF members. It's a collaboration. That's why we're saying that we have seven specialized facilities between VAC and DND that are offering these services.
Conservative
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for being here.
I wanted to reiterate what an incredible job VAC did with the trip to Vimy. What was most impressive was the care given to veterans and the incredible concern to make sure that they were safe and secure and comfortable. I wish to say thank you for that.
I want to go back to the question from Mr. Chisu with regard to the fact that in Toronto, the homeless veterans who are found are not connecting. It brings me to the fact that in Halifax there are homeless veterans who are being looked after by members of the public. In London, Ontario, we've discovered a significant number of homeless vets. There's a group in London that's trying to put together a plan so that there can be support. Again, these are private citizens.
I'm wondering how that London group would get in touch with that. What steps do they need to take to make sure that the connections are made so that it's not just Vancouver, Montreal, and part of Toronto taking care of homeless vets and making sure that they get services?
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
With respect to the group in London you are speaking to, we would be happy to hear from them through our district office in London. We would see how we can work together with them on that.
Director, Strategic and Enabling Initiatives, Department of Veterans Affairs
Thank you.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Mr. Lalonde, you talked about the fact that it is a challenge to reach all the veterans. They live in disparate communities. The provision of service is a challenge. I am concerned, though, in regard to telehealth and that kind of connection. I have contacted telehealth on a Saturday night with a child, and the reality is that usually we would have to have a face-to-face meeting. I'm wondering, given the fact that these veterans of ours have given such tremendous service, isn't it absolutely incumbent upon Veterans Affairs Canada, and all of us connected with veterans, to make sure that every effort, no matter what—no matter how challenging, no matter how demanding—is made to connect with veterans?
