In spite of ongoing assurances from Veterans Affairs that all veterans are properly cared for, veteran hospitals, and the generous suite of medical and holistic services they offer, remain closed to all veterans who joined after the Korean War.
Instead, soldiers who joined the military after 1953, and are suffering from a service-related disability, or are simply in need of long-term care, are relegated to provincial health care, with the option of applying to Veterans Affairs Canada for any additional care to be delivered through the provincial system.
It’s a two-tiered system that has veterans affairs advocates, including retired air force captain Sean Bruyea, pushing for changes that would allow all veterans access the same care.
“All World War II veterans, whether they served two years in the front line, six months back home handing out army boots, or even two days in England un-crating Spam, were, and are, entitled to access to long-term care at veteran hospitals,” said Bruyea, who was released from the Canadian Forces mainly as a result of combat stress associated with serving in the first Gulf War.
“Shouldn’t those who served in the field hospitals of the Gulf War, the Medak pocket of the former Yugoslavia and the hostile hills around Kandahar deserve the same assistance in both young and old age?” Bruyea asked.
The current network of veteran hospitals was organized in the 1960s. In most cases, the federal government gave contracts to local hospitals, which would establish veteran’s health centres.
Today, health centres including Perley Rideau in Ottawa, Sunnybrook in Toronto and Parkwood in London are one-stop sites, providing focused medical care organized and paid for by Veterans Affairs Canada.
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“If a Canadian Forces veteran needs long-term care, with respect to service-related injury or illness, we will support them in a community bed,” said Janice Summerby, spokesperson for Veterans Affairs. “Veterans Affairs Canada will pay the full cost of their care in a facility — in or near their community, their family and their local social support services.”
However, younger veterans point out that such a standard of care may not always be accessible in local hospitals and other provincial health-care facilities.
“Local community hospitals and their staff really cannot provide the same focused care and attention that is now being received by older veterans in veteran hospitals,” said retired infantry officer Robert Walsh, who has received compensation from Veteran’s Affairs for hearing loss and knee and ankle injuries related to his 14 years of service ....