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Beechwood woman files for divorce, citing nursing home costs

Another New Brunswick woman has come forward to say she needs a divorce because she can't afford the nursing home bills for her husband.

"I've already called the lawyer," says Cathy Hamilton from her home in Beechwood.

"She's going to write it up."

Hamilton is convinced that's the only way to sever herself from obligations to pay for her husband's care. That bill is now $1,800 per month and Hamilton says she can't sustain that kind of expense.

As a seasonal cook at the Aroostook Valley Golf Club, she's making $12 an hour.

She says her husband's pension is worth $1,400 per month, meaning she has to dip into her income to cover the rest.

Her husband, 65-year-old Neil Hamilton, suffered a stroke six years ago that rendered him unable to walk or talk.

Hamilton says the administrator at the Victoria Glen Manor, south of Perth-Andover, has made threaths if bills aren't paid.

"[The administrator] said 'I've met your husband a couple times, he's quite a nice gentleman,'" says Hamilton.

"She said, 'I'd hate to just, like, put him out on the street.' I said, 'You would?' And she said, 'If this isn't paid, he will be evicted.'"

'I think it's going to get worse'

New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes President Michael Keating says evictions are rare, but they can happen.

He says he first heard divorce being used as a last resort five or six years ago. But now it comes up every three or four months.

"Unfortunately, I think it's going to get worse," says Keating.

"The economic situation is such that everybody is trying to find ways to save and there's virtually no money, or little money to go around. And I think we're going to hear it about it more frequently. It is a powerful social issue."

While Hamilton was explaining her situation, dozens of seniors gathered in Moncton for a call to action to protest against nursing home subsidies that will reportedly save the province $7.8 million per year.

The premier responded today that none of those policy changes have gone into effect.

"We're very much willing to fully understand anybody's scenario and if there's a way for us to help them overcome some of their challenges, ensuring that they have a strong quality of life, ensuring that they're able to live in harmony and happily," Gallant said.

CBC News did reach out to Hamilton's lawyer but did not hear back.