Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As of right now, there is no -- the plan right now is the bed projections. And I know that we should have those bed projections soon. And so we'll base -- you know, we move forward as to what our bed projections are and how -- and the changes that we are providing, more home support work in certain communities, which is decreasing the need for those individuals and those people that don't need to go into long-term care as soon -- you know, so it actually helps them stay in their communities longer. So based on the next bed projection, you know, we'll look at what our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My staff have just recently, as of February 7th, met with the shelter network and have reported to me that the shelter network has used this funding to have face-to-face meetings, multiple face-to-face meetings throughout the year. In recent discussion with the shelter network, the staff have confirmed that the biggest gap by the loss of this funding is around these in-person meetings. I understand that it's not ideal for face-to-face meetings. You know, we have a huge geographic territory, and the cost of moving people around in the territory has become significant...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that's all bilateral funding that we received.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, like I said in this House, I will wait until after we see the results of the first year of the review. We'll see, you know, the uptake. We'll be able to have the data. We'll be able to figure -- like, look at the difference of the clients that were on -- you know, that chose not to.

The thing is if they haven't applied and we don't know -- like, if they were in the old system of the -- and if they haven't applied, then we don't know what the difference is going to be so that kind of data, people didn't apply on the extended health benefits because they are in a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the way that they are dealing with surge capacity in a situation like that is that they would reduce services and so that they can target to a situation like this, that this is a communicable disease, this is something that is, you know, potentially, if not dealt with right away, you know, and as -- I know that the Minister of Finance had details on what those costs were and how many people were involved with a case that just happened recently in Yellowknife, and so the amount of service and contact tracing and then directly observed therapy and all of those...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it may. It may take some of those ALC patients if they are currently been assessed and gone through the territorial application process for the long-term care. As all of the clients that go into long-term care have to have their assessment and go through the process to be added to the waitlist and so therefore they work with those families and those residents that are in beds that have altered level of care. So in parts, it could be. I don't have the detail of if that means all of the ALC patients that are taking beds in Stanton or any of our hospitals. And...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the department is incurring that cost. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not sure if I understand the question. We still have -- everybody can still apply through extended health benefits. There are -- if they choose to -- you know, based on their income threshold and their net income, there has been things put in place where they can -- you know, instead of paying that lump sum right at the beginning, we made -- I've made an exception right off the bat that they could do it through monthly installments if they know -- like, some people, if they know that their prescriptions are -- and they're going to be utilizing this program, they can...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will pass that to the ADM for the detail in that section.

Thank you. The process right now is that they are using the waitlist to go through and reach out to each of those individuals that are on the waitlist. For further detail, I know that they are -- I don't know have the level of detail of how many beds currently. I know that the last update I had where they were in the process of filling those beds. But I can -- if the deputy minister has any more information, I can, if I may, pass it to the deputy minister.