Sudbury couple married 67 years worried 'one of us is going to die and we're not together yet'

For the first time in their 67-year marriage,HildegardAdler won't be spending Valentine's Day with herhusband, Gottfried.

"Oh, we were always together," the 88-year-old mused from her Sudbury hospital bed.

• Sudbury sisters plead for parents to be placed together in long-term care

Following a broken pelvis,Hildegardhas been in the hospital for almost seven months,waiting to be placed in the same long-term care home Finlandia Village as her 91-year-old husband.

In January, their daughters,Helga Leblanc andLinda Adler,told CBCNews that bothHildegard and Gottfrieduse wheelchairs and suffer from dementia.

"It's difficult for them to understand what's going on," said Linda Adler.

Leblanc saidthe physical and emotional toll of the continued forced separation on both of her parents has been immense.

"My dad mentioned to me last week, he said, 'I'm really concerned one of us is going to die and we're not together yet.'"

Leblanc saidshe and her sister are seeking a meeting with Ontario Health Minister EricHoskinsto ask him to intervene personally.

"The Minister's going to have to tell Sudbury [authorities], 'Place her'. If that doesn't happen, it's not going to happen."

• People need to know rights when applying for long-term care, advocate says

In an email toCBCNews, a Local Health Integration Network spokesperson said there are 10 to 12 people in Sudbury seeking spousal reunification, and stressed the organization can't arbitrarily move patients up or down the waiting list.

According to the LHIN, the highest priority is those incrisis living outside of the hospital. Patients in long-term care at the hospital receive the second-highest priority designation.

For Hildegard, she just hopes that she'll be reunited in a home withGottfriedsoon.

"Oh, I remember the old country and all thatyou know, and the family at home we had, so of course it's different."

"Well, it's hard."