Evidence of meeting #37 for Veterans Affairs in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was lifemark.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marie-France Lalonde
Thank you, Ms. Gaudreau.
Next is Ms. Wagantall for five minutes.
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
Thank you both for being here.
Dr. Burton, I would like to pursue this conversation around a parallel service. This is the first time, regardless of whether those who came were part of Lifemark or were on that other tranche that didn't quite qualify, that this has not been an option. It's been made very clear to veteran after veteran that unless they do it this way, they will lose their IRB. Please explain it to me. Would they have to pay for two different services, which to me would be two psychologists at the same time?
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
In only the sense that if it's determined through whatever process.... The process is, again, assessment: determining that, okay, there are additional avenues of treatment. For example, if an individual is seeing a therapist, and they see them only monthly, but then I assess them and I'd like to see them more frequently, because they have—
Conservative
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
At the same time, basically, VAC is paying for PCVRS to qualify....
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
How many veteran patients would you see in the course of the times...? When were you first recognized as a provider?
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Okay. Can you give me an idea of how many veterans you've served over the course of this time?
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
It would be hundreds, yes—several hundred.
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Hundreds have made it through the entire process of being assessed and then getting the vocational care they need and then....
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
Yes, but here, I guess, is the other piece. It's that not all make it to the vocational step. That is where, from my perspective, and this is where I've had a lot of support.... Sometimes the veteran isn't going to be returning to work. There's so much that they are experiencing, and what we want to do is have them have a good quality of life, just to improve their....
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Then, in that case, you would say that this person, from your perspective, can't return to work, so they're encouraged to realize they can't. Then they move off from that whole opportunity at that point in time. Can you give me some feedback on that?
I get the impression that they feel like they're being churned through the mill way too quickly and that they maybe don't qualify, as I'm hearing here, due to a lot of dynamics, as mentioned by Mr. Brown on his assessment outside of this program versus the process within it.
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
Again, it's really disheartening to hear stories like Mr. Brown's.
My own experience has been that people have worked through the program, and it has been something where it's been literally years. We continue to work through the program. I've never personally been pushed. I've never been pushed to—
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
What's the longest term you've spent with one particular veteran to get from A to B through the program?
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
I'm still ongoing with some from 2022 whom I'm still working with. It's a transition, where the program has allowed for extensions of treatment and also the progression into DEC, this diminished earning capacity—
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
That's the difference that a lot of times I hear from vets. They just want.... A number of veterans have come to me wanting alternatives to that, and they just get pressured to finally just accept that. In your mind, they are misguided in thinking that they can do more.
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
No. I don't think they are misguided. I think it's just from the time the program is set up for, which is two years—
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
That's my next question here, because you talk about a comprehensive assessment and how the program is time-limited and function-based. What is the time limit, regardless of that? You have some who have been there since 2022.
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
Yes, and that's where the flexibility comes in, because I've experienced the fact that the extensions of treatment for the veterans have continued, and I know—
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
I'm sorry for interrupting you. Who decides that they get to continue?
Psychologist, Lifemark Health Group
I would imagine it's through the VAC case manager and the RSS, the rehabilitative service—