Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon.
My name is Shelley Hale. I'm the director of the Royal Ottawa's operational stress injury clinic.
Our clinic has been in operation for eight years now, and we've worked with over 1,700 clients as you can see. We belong to and work within the national network of operational stress injury clinics and are fully funded by Veterans Affairs Canada. We are one of 11 clinics and the only one situated in a specialized mental health facility. Veterans Affairs, the Department of National Defence, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are the only agencies that can make referrals to our clinics, and we provide comprehensive assessments back to them about each referral that comes through our doors. Our clinic in Ottawa is responsible for half of the province of Ontario and western Quebec. We collaborate with seven area offices, three active bases, five integrated personnel support centres, and two RCMP divisions.
This is a snapshot of where the referrals are coming from for our catchment area. It's no surprise that Ottawa and Pembroke are our largest referral sources.
Our average client, just to paint a picture for you, is a 46-year-old male veteran who has deployed an average of two times and has served in the Canadian Armed Forces for almost 20 years. He has served on peacekeeping missions, and he has been diagnosed with both post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression. If treated at our clinic, he will stay for approximately 18 months and attend evidence-based group and individual work to process his trauma. He will leave our clinic having met his treatment goals and will feel prepared through the work he's done to carry it over into his day-to-day life. He will also recommend our clinic to his friends.
Our referrals from DND have grown at a steady pace over the last few years. What we find has been working well is a warm transfer between Veterans Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence while the member is still serving.
We have worked with our DND colleagues in Ottawa to accept referrals for our clinic for still-serving members with up to two years left to serve so we can ensure a smooth transition of care and so no one falls into the gaps.
The feedback from clients is that this process is facilitating a smoother transition between services, and we're also beginning to see referrals from Petawawa following the same process.
In addition to services at our clinic, a few years ago we launched OSI Connect, a mobile application with self-screeners for depression, PTSD, and sleep, the three big issues for our clients, information we target to family physicians whose resources are on there for families as well. We also launched OSI Resource for Caregivers with the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada. We filtered that with family members from across our catchment area as well, with much positive feedback from that group and our clients.
We know that not all veterans are affiliated with VAC and that the system is sometimes complicated for both veterans and service providers to navigate. What we would love to see adopted and tried is a national public awareness campaign that would cue veterans as they enter into any avenue of the health care system whether it's the emergency room, their family physician's office, or a walk-in clinic. If we could teach all health care providers to ask someone if they have served, that would open up a whole avenue for clients who aren't attached to Veterans Affairs Canada. Having all service providers educated to ask that one simple question would mean more veterans could access services that have already been established for them.
Thank you for your time.