My name is Natalie Forcier. I'm a CAF veteran and former medic. I served for 14 years, including two tours in Afghanistan. I now volunteer my time as a veteran advocate to support our military men and women after service.
Today I'm speaking from my own experience in the rehab system. I started rehab with VAC in 2020 and transitioned into PCVRS in 2023. I'm still in the program today.
When I signed my PCVRS contract in 2023, the process was presented as collaborative. It stated that my RSS would use my goals to develop a rehab plan with activities, time frames and costs. It stated that I would review the draft plan with my RSS and VAC case manager, that SMART goals would be discussed together and that I would receive a final approved plan. On paper, that sounds like I'm meant to be informed, involved and empowered in my own rehab. That has not been my experience.
After years in rehab, I've had only one tangible rehab plan, and that was connected to vocational rehab. When that attempt was not successful, I was advised that I could lose my IRB and be removed from the rehab program. That changed how safe the process felt to me.
IRB is not extra support. It is stability, housing, food, medication and the ability to keep going while trying to rebuild life after service. When income support feels tied to performance, progress or compliance, it becomes harder to be honest about limitations.
My rehab focused on two specific injuries, my left knee and PTSD from Afghanistan, but those injuries do not exist in isolation. After 14 years in uniform, I was not only dealing with two diagnoses but trying to rebuild after chronic pain, mental health injury, loss of identity and years of pushing through because that is what service required.
The process often felt rushed in the short term, and there was a set timeline and an expectation that I should show a measurable improvement within that window, but 14 years of repetitive stress, joint degeneration, chronic pain and mental strain do not simply improve because the rehab plan says they should. That leaves me caught between two impossible choices. Either I try to force years of physical and mental stress into a rehab timeline that does not reflect my reality, or I admit that I cannot progress the way the program expects and risk being seen as non-compliant. If I'm seen as non-compliant, what happens to my IRB?
I also want to speak about what happens when the system treats a plateau as success. My left knee is attributed to service and has significant internal derangement. I'm too young for a knee replacement, so I'm essentially waiting until the joint deteriorates enough for surgery. In the meantime, I compensate through my hips, back and other knee, which creates more pain, more degeneration and more functional loss.
My physio reached a plateau in measurable progress, and PCVRS no longer approved continued rehab for my knee. From a program perspective, that may look like the active treatment need has ended. From my perspective, I'm still living with the injury every day. I'm still trying to preserve mobility, reduce pain, slow deterioration and prevent other joints from breaking down. I have to ask this. Is that considered a successful outcome? Maintenance is not recovery. Plateau is not wellness. Being too young for surgery but too injured to improve does not mean I no longer need support.
For chronic service-related injuries, success cannot mean only measurable improvement. Sometimes success is maintaining mobility. Sometimes it's slowing deterioration or keeping a veteran functional, independent and safe in their own life. That needs to count.
I also believe that veterans need real choice in providers. It is not empowering to force a veteran away from a trusted therapist or clinician when they finally feel safe and cared for. Having to repeat trauma, retell painful experiences and rebuild trust with someone new is not a simple administrative change. It can be destabilizing.
What I needed from rehab was clear: a real plan, shared goals, transparent timelines, provider choice, continuity of care, and support for function and prevention, not only short-term improvement. I also needed to feel that honesty about my limitations would not put my income or stability at risk.
Veterans often go years without proper treatment. We focus on the mission, push through and learn to survive by putting ourselves last.
After release, rehab should not suddenly impose a deadline to recover from injuries and trauma that took years to build. Real rehab should help me build trust, preserve function, regain stability and feel safe enough to be honest.
It should not become another system I have to fight my way through.
Thank you.
