Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not know if in the near future we are going to see a savings in the area of health care because it is not a static thing. I will say that as we move along with this primary care model, I think we will begin to see some efficiencies. When we negotiated with the physicians to purchase their clinics and take over their staff, this required a considerable upfront investment. With some things, there are hidden costs that you do not think about such as bringing in locum physicians and when you have to pay people different rates to manage the emergency room. I think once we get a more integrated system, the primary care model is a good model and it is efficient. I cannot say that we are going to see a tremendous savings. We may see efficiencies, but we will continue to see a very good quality and standard of care.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, before we took a break, I asked a few questions on acquiring the leases for the four medical clinics in Yellowknife. The Minister mentioned they are looking at going down to two clinics. Which two clinics are you considering keeping open after the downsizing?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, to answer the question, three of the clinics' leases are up in 2004, one is up in 2005. I do not know, I do not believe it has been decided yet, which two would stay open.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister, why is it we are acquiring four medical clinics now, knowing that in a couple of years we are going to be converting to two?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We acquired four, Mr. Chairman, because that is how many there were in existence. We will consolidate down to two. We are not providing less service, we are simply consolidating down to two clinics.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If we are going to be consolidating down to two clinics, are we still going to require the 19 physicians we have in place to run those two clinics?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, we do not know at this point, but I am sure as we consolidate down to two that there will be some change, probably some decrease in the number of people in various areas of responsibilities in a clinic. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Chairman, this program the Minister mentioned is a unique program with regard to the federal government. In some of our nursing stations and clinics, we have tried to get, I will use Aklavik as an example. They were supposed to have a replacement of their health centre, but they have tried to get a few things in their clinic, such as an eye clinic or a dental unit in the hospital facility itself. Can these dollars be used for such an endeavour, looking at new initiatives within the structure of a building? If this money was used to purchase facilities, what are the criteria for these funds to be used? Can it be used to construct new facilities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, I will refer that to the Minister responsible for Health.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Chairman, if Mr. Krutko is referring to the CHST federal funding, the trust money is different than the ongoing five-year agreement that was recently reached with the federal government. The question is, can we use that, the CHST funding that we will get? I am not exactly sure what it is available to be spent on. It is definitely primary care, health qualifies.

As far as equipment goes, there is also some money that has been agreed to by the federal government that will be available shortly for the replacement of equipment as well. There are some funds coming in from the federal government over and above the CHST, which are specially earmarked and targeted for certain things.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can the Minister tell me if there have been any requests from other agencies? We talk about the Yellowknife health board here. Has the Inuvik Regional Health Board or any of the other health boards requested funds from this trust to be used for that type of arrangement?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Money comes to the department, Mr. Chairman, and the department, which funds the boards that fund the facilities in their regions and communities, expends the money. The CHST trust, from which the Yellowknife primary health care model reform is funded, is not really available on a proposal basis, if that is what you are asking, no.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.