Debbie Fleming, administrator of the Creemore long-term care facility, says right now there are four couples living at the facility.

“I think it’s excellent – we definitely try to make this happen when we can,” says Fleming.

Fleming says Leisure World Caregiving Centre Creedan Valley is an older facility but she feels it has accommodated well in cases where it has had the opportunity to welcome couples.

“But at any given time we usually have three couples,” says the administrator.

Eligible couples who both require care will now be given higher priority for placement in the same setting, according to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

One of the main reasons the Creemore facility has always been able to make this happen, says Fleming, is that it has a good working relationship with its Community Care Access Centre (CCAC.)

“I think the rapport with your CCAC and your hospital discharge planner is a big part of it,” says Fleming.

She says sometimes couples cannot immediately get into the same room to share, but they can often get into the same facility with a bit more effort. “Even this helps, in the short-term,” she says.

Fleming says this is an important issue because couples at that age have often “lived together for their whole lives.”

“The stress must be very difficult – even younger adults should be able to relate to that,” she says, noting that imagining your spouse has to suddenly live in another city or across the city would be difficult to accept.

“It just doesn’t make sense if it can be avoided,” she says.