# 4 Therapists Quit Edmonton OSI Clinic



## Nemo888 (5 Dec 2013)

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/Board2/index.php?topic=11943/post-12858#msg12858

Dec.5th.2013.
Mr. Peter Stoffer M.P.P.

Dear Sir;

          It is with heavy heart and dismay that I write this letter. How many more soldiers have to die at the hands of the current Government before those responsible for the deaths of the four young men who found life to painful to cope because of their PTSD?

I was referred to the Edmonton OSI clinic. In Aug of 2013 for assessment and treatment for my diagnosed PTSD.  Everything  was going well with my weekly sessions until  early  Nov. 2013 when at the beginning of the session I was advised that my therapist and three others including the Manager had Quit their jobs in protest of the treatment and restrictions put on them while working with Veterans.

At no time in the history of OSI have four therapists in one location Quit their jobs because of the poor treatment of Veterans and the therapist trying to help them. It is unheard of four therapists quitting their job in protest of the Veterans Treatment.   

As you may recall this time last year one soldier attempted to lite a member of VRAB on fire in Edmonton at the local Veteran Affairs Office. VAC was warned that more and more soldiers would end up hurting themselves and others and yet nothing was done to help them.

I was asked not to writ or reveal what happened at the Edmonton OSI but I can no hold it in anymore.

I trust that the God of the soldiers who took their own lives will take care of their souls and family and perhaps at the next election all Veterans will vote  to remove the Government who says over and over we have put five billion in to treating soldiers which is just not true.

I am writing this with my name because I an no longer keep it a secret as requested.

Murray Scott
Edmonton Alberta
A 47 year old proud Veteran.


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## Teager (5 Dec 2013)

I do not understand these therapists at all. There upset about the treatment of vets so in protest they quit their job? How does this help vets at all? If anything it does more harm than good. If you don't like the treatmnet of vets then there are many other means to protest it. Quitting your job a job that helps vets does not help them one bit.


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## The Bread Guy (5 Dec 2013)

Teager said:
			
		

> I do not understand these therapists at all. There upset about the treatment of vets so in protest they quit their job? How does this help vets at all? If anything it does more harm than good. If you don't like the treatmnet of vets then there are many other means to protest it. Quitting your job a job that helps vets does not help them one bit.


I only know what I've read in the online forum on this one (so there's bound to be more to it than what's in the public domain), but there's also a case to be made that if the workload is so heavy, the practitioners face burn out, getting sick and probably leaving anyway, leaving the system without practitioners either way.

Also, if they work for the government, how else can they legally protest something that's happening in their workplace?  Sending it up the CoC?  I'm guessing there's no shortage of paperwork at lower levels saying "hello, we need more help here."  Will sending more paper up help?

I know the answer would be more resources, but _that_ ain't happening either - I wish I had better answers here.


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## sidemount (5 Dec 2013)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> I know the answer would be more resources, but _that_ ain't happening either - I wish I had better answers here.



The unfortunate reality is that, you are right, we are not going to get more resorces.....the more likely senario is like everything else....less resources.

But hey, the govenrment says its doing lots for us right? :-\


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## stokerwes (5 Dec 2013)

I think the therapists perhaps felt they were doing a dis-service to the veterans by not being able to treat them to their full abilities due to fiscal restraints and lack of time to treat each individual due to heavy work load.
It's only my opinion that's all, there are more than likely numerous reasons for this happening. Bottom line is people that were receiving help must feel that they have no on to turn to now that the source they were getting help from is suddenly no longer available. 
I do hope that anyone that needs help gets it and these positions can be filled immediately.
My experience  in dealing with mental health care in the CF has been outstanding, the hardest part is going through the door to get the help.


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## cupper (5 Dec 2013)

Teager said:
			
		

> I do not understand these therapists at all. There upset about the treatment of vets so in protest they quit their job? How does this help vets at all? If anything it does more harm than good. If you don't like the treatmnet of vets then there are many other means to protest it. Quitting your job a job that helps vets does not help them one bit.



It is unfortunate, but sometimes it takes a drastic measure such as this to bring attention to problems that continue to go unresolved.

Agreed that it doesn't help the members that were undergoing treatment prior to this, but if it gets people taking, and inspires someone who can do something to step up, then it will have achieved some amount of progress.


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## TCM621 (6 Dec 2013)

cupper said:
			
		

> It is unfortunate, but sometimes it takes a drastic measure such as this to bring attention to problems that continue to go unresolved.
> 
> Agreed that it doesn't help the members that were undergoing treatment prior to this, but if it gets people taking, and inspires someone who can do something to step up, then it will have achieved some amount of progress.



Agreed. Sometimes, quitting in protest feels like the only option. Also, once they quit they can talk about the issues more freely because they don't have to fear censure and retaliation by their employer.


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## mariomike (6 Dec 2013)

Global News

"Therapists Quitting OSI Clinics"
http://vimeo.com/81167257#


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## Teager (6 Dec 2013)

Just a question.

If for example these therapists that quit joined together and opened there own private clinic in the nearest town to base and accepted blue cross can CF members be sent there if the therapist on base is overloaded? If this was possible then therapist would have more control on workload and the bureaucratic red tape. Also the therapist could speak more about the shortages and issues going on since they aren't technically employed by the government. Maybe I'm wrong with this but just a thought. I'm sure there are many more obstacles with this.


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## Pieman (8 Dec 2013)

Therapists can register with Veteran Affairs as a Service provider for OSI, and ex-soldiers can still go to them if approved. I'm not sure who flips the bill for those who are still serving.


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## Gunner98 (8 Dec 2013)

The therapists could apply for registration with Blue Cross as preferred providers and receive referrals from physicians who treat both veterans and serving soldiers.


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## maniac (28 Dec 2013)

It should be noted that these are NOT public servant employees (not VAC).  The clinics across the country are funded by Veteran Affairs Canada and controlled by the National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries (NCOSI) who are VAC employees.  For example:  in Ottawa, the clinic is at The Royal Ottawa Hospital and the OSI clinic is a wing of that hospital.  All of the staff at that location are employees of The Royal Ottawa but the "clinic" is funded by VAC. to the tune of  approx $2.5M each clinic.

I suspect this had little to do with veterans (scream poor treatment and you get attention) rather than it had to do with management at that location (it is an isolated incident).  I have been a client of the OSI Clinic for some time, they seem quit happy here!


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