After serving nearly a decade on board destroyers and submarines, Curtis Doucet hoped to spend part of his retirement at a facility in Yarmouth, N.S.
The facility is located in the Yarmouth Regional Hospital, where Veterans Affairs Canada provides long-term care services to veterans who served prior to 1953.
Like many veterans in his community, Doucet can’t access those services by Veterans Affairs Canada unless he was injured in the workplace. His only option is three hours away in Halifax.
Doucet wants the federal government to change the criteria for accessing care by Veterans Affairs Canada, which would allow him to access care closer to home.
“If it happens that I have to go to a veteran’s place or something like that, it would be Halifax. And that’s three hours away,” Doucet told Global News.
The thought of leaving his family behind in Yarmouth doesn’t seem like an option.
“It’s not going to be practical.”
The facility in Yarmouth is a Nova Scotia Health Authority hospital, which, according to the former area commander, opened with 25 beds exclusively for veterans. Now, there are only five. The remaining beds went to those outside of the military.
Veterans Affairs Canada said in a statement to Global News that what is done with the beds outside of those prioritized for veterans of the Korean War and Second World War is up to local authorities.
Veterans are unable to pay their way into these long-term care facilities.
“Contract beds not in use by eligible Veterans can be used by the province for Veterans eligible for community beds or other provincial residents,” Marc Lescoutre with Veterans Affairs Canada said in a statement.
“The decision to allocate long term care community beds rests with the provincial, regional, or local health authorities and varies from province to province.”
The Nova Scotia Health Authority said it provides the “service” for Veterans Affairs Canada in Yarmouth, but only Veterans Affairs Canada provides eligibility.
“From what I understand, there’s a fair amount of veterans in this area that are waiting for beds and they should be the priority for these beds,” said veteran Andre Boudreau, who served for 40 years.
“We understand that the province has to fill these beds with long-term care, but the priority should go to veterans.”
Veterans inside the facility have been advocating to get more veterans into the facility. The residents believe there’s a camaraderie for the other veterans.
Boudreau said the federal government needs to “step up to the plate” for the local veterans so they can get the care they need when they need it.
The Canadian Armed Forces member said he’d like to see a system where veterans are pulled from a smaller radius instead of travelling 300 kilometres to Halifax.
Veterans Affairs Canada said there are nearly 2,200 veterans in more than 750 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities across Canada.
— with files from Shelley Steeves
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