Laurie Buchanan has been wondering a lot lately about her father, 77-year-old Jim Gale, who was admitted to a nursing home in Port Hawkesbury in May after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“I feel so bad for him, he's got no family up there, no friends,” Buchanan said. “We’ve just seen a big difference in these 13 weeks. He's failing big time.”

Buchanan has been trying to get her father closer to home in Glace Bay. The time spent away from family is having an effect on his health.

But she's been told there are no beds available for male Alzheimer’s patients in the area.

There are beds available at Taigh Na Mara Nursing Home in Glace Bay, 11 of them according to Buchanan, but they're reserved for veterans.

“If I wanted to pay $2,000 a day, it's possible I could get one of those beds,” Buchanan said. “I mean, that's just outrageous.”

In an e-mail, the Nova Scotia Health Authority had this response.

“How long an individual will wait for a transfer will depend on a number of factors, including the number and priority level of other people who are also waiting to get into a specific home.”

Buchanan says she was originally told her father would only be in Port Hawkesbury for eight weeks. She says she's contacted officials, including her MLA, but has had no response.

“How much time does he have left?” Buchanan said. “How much memory does he have left, that he still knows me when I go in? He still knows his wife. I'm worried, when is that going to go?”

Buchanan says she has since found out there are patients in Glace Bay from Port Hawkesbury and was hoping the health authority could do a switch.

The health authority did not confirm that this was the case, but did have this response.

“When an individual no longer needs acute care, but is waiting in hospital for a nursing home bed, they are required to accept the first available bed offering the appropriate level of care within 100 kilometers of their community of choice -- even if it is not the client’s preferred facility,” Nova Scotia Health Authority spokesman Greg Boone wrote in an e-mail.“Once an individual is placed they can request a transfer to a preferred facility. We know that many individuals want to remain as close to home and family and make every effort to get people into a preferred facility as soon as possible.”

Buchanan feels as though she is losing her father in more ways than one and would like the switch to happen before it’s too late.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.