Yellowknife (May 02/03) - Federal Health Minister Anne McLellan, who was under fire this week for her handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Toronto, is still planning to come North to discuss health care funding, her spokesperson, Alex Swann said.

She is just too busy right now.

"Dealing with a federal health minister's schedule is never easy," said Swann on Thursday. "It's a case of trying to pry open some time and juggle and reschedule, and then you go back and forth with three other ministers."

McLellan had been invited North in February to discuss the territorial health care funding formula with health ministers from the NWT, Yukon and Nunavut.