SYDNEY -- Lisa Fitzgerald's trip to the Cape Breton Regional Hospital is one she won't soon forget.

Concerned about the state of her mother's mental health, she took the 77-year-old to the emergency room.

Lisa says her mother was placed on a stretcher in a hallway and -- two days later -- she got a call from the hospital saying her mother was missing.

"My heart sank," Fitzgerald said. "I brought her there because I was concerned for her safety and wellbeing. And then this happened. I don't understand it."

Fitzgerald says her mother was not in her right state of mind and wandered out of the hospital Saturday morning. She says for 25 minutes, nobody knew where she was, but was finally returned to the hospital after being located by police.

"I went there Saturday morning at seven o'clock," Fitzgerald said. "I was there with her for 12 hours. Nobody reached out to me Saturday or Sunday. I finally contacted the department manager on Monday afternoon and they didn't have any answers."

In a statement emailed to CTV News late Friday afternoon, the Nova Scotia Health Authority says privacy concerns prevent them from speaking to specifics.

But they do say they take any concerns about the care and safety of patients seriously.

"It's concerning," Fitzgerald said. "You go to the hospital and you're supposed to be safe. You're supposed to receive care and it really failed her."

The weather Saturday was not ideal either; it was windy, rainy and cold. Fitzgerald says luckily her mother was wearing a hooded sweater, or the outcome could've been a lot worse.

Fitzgerald says her mother remains at the hospital but now has a sitter 24 hours a day. Still, Fitzgerald is worried she might soon be sent back home with supports. 

"I'm adamant about her not being sent back home due to safety concerns," Fitzgerald said. "But if they determine she is capable of making her own decisions, she will be sent back home."

Fitzgerald says the situation has made her turn down a teaching job in China, so she could stay home and take care of her mother.