Mona Chasin has been in hospital for the past two months recovering from a stroke.
The 80-year-old has a feeding tube and a permanent gastrostomy tube.
Chasin's niece, Michele Lenick, said her aunt used to be in a long-term care home, but lost her spot because she was out of the home for longer than 30 days while in hospital.
She's now forced back on the waitlist to re-apply for a room.
"She was in the same long-term care as my dad, on the same floor," said Lenick. "So it made it very easy for me to visit both of them."
But now under the province's new Bill 7, also known as the "more beds better care act," Lenick's aunt can be transferred to any long-term care home, not just the ones on her list of preferred homes.
"It's terribly stressful, it's consuming me. I'm afraid to answer the phone when it rings, if the hospital calls, if the hospital number comes up or anything like that. I kind of go into panic mode, because I'm anticipating it's not going to go the way I want it to be, or what's best for her," said Lenick.
If patients refuse to leave the hospital they can be charged $400 per day.
"Our family is not in a position to pay $400 a day," said Lenick.
One senior advocate said this bill is a disaster, and the monetary fine is a way for the government to ensure nobody stays.
"What we're seeing is loved ones, parents, and spouses dumped into a long-term care home that probably doesn't have room or the skill set to support them, because they're already under such pressure," said Laura Tamblyn Watts, founder of CanAge.
In southern Ontario, patients can be transferred within 70 kilometres of their preferred home.
In Waterloo region that could mean patients in Kitchener can be moved as far away as Burlington.
In northern Ontario, it's a 150-kilometre radius.
"What that means is, connections to family, friends and loved ones are going to be severed, and we know that can lead to increased illness and death," said Tamblyn.
The province says the bill is to help free up beds in hospitals.
On Wednesday, Paul Calandra, Minister Of Long-Term Care said this gives the maximum amount of flexibility the province can put on the table for patients in hospital that want to transition to better quality care out of long-term care.
Hospital officials in Waterloo-Wellington say they will be taking a regional approach, and are waiting for more guidance from the province on how to implement Bill 7.
The province says factors such as culture, religion and language will all be taken into consideration when placing patients, adding that couples will not be separated.
