MP Gallant Pleased with Care Improvements for Soldiers at CFB Petawawa

November 06, 2009

PETAWAWA, ONTARIO… MP Cheryl Gallant, (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke) welcomed Major-General Walter Semianiw, Chief, Military Personnel and Mrs Leslie Natynczyk, spouse of Chief of the Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk for an update on the care provided to our soldiers returning from deployment.

“I am very thank-full to MGen Semianiw for personally being involved in reviewing changes to the level of care our returning soldiers receive. I asked for this update as a result of a series of meetings I held in Petawawa this past summer as well as calls from our military personnel. I made a commitment to follow-up on the concerns that have been raised and today’s briefing is part of that follow-up,” stated Cheryl Gallant, MP.

“I am particularly pleased with the transformation that I saw today compared to how our soldiers were being treated before 2006. The Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU) is central to providing the full range of services required for wounded, injured and ill Canadian Forces (CF) members, said Gallant, MP.

The aim of the JPSU is to improve the coordination and facilitation of the delivery of standardized, high quality, seamless consistent care while wounded, injured and ill CF members reintegrate into military or civilian life and employment. The JPSU is the umbrella unit with regional HQs, and the Unit Identification Code to which the wounded, injured and ill are posted. The Integrated Personnel Support Centre (IPSC) is where they report to and receive the services.

The idea behind the JPSU and their IPSCs is that wounded, injured and ill CF members need only to go to one place to receive access to all the services that are available to them in their recovery and rehabilitation. In other words, it's a "one-stop service" smorgasbord and it’s composed of five core DND/CF functions: Return to Work (RTW) Coordination; Casualty Support Outreach; Casualty Tracking; Casualty Administrative and Advocacy Services; Support Platoon.

“In order for soldiers to be able to focus on their jobs while deployed, they need to know their families are taken care of also. One of the reasons I was pleased to welcome MGen Semianiw to CFB Petawawa was to discuss the critical shortage of family doctors. During Defence Committee hearings in Ottawa, MGen Semianiw referred to a pilot project at CFB Trenton. I support this or any other pilot project to help solve our local doctor shortage also,” concluded Cheryl Gallant, MP.