MONTREAL, QC - A woman is up in arms after a hospital told her it will charge her $1,444 a day so her husband can continue receiving intensive care.

Gian Libero Casale, 54, suffered a stroke in September 2010 after seeing a chiropractor. He requires specialized care, which he has been receiving at Royal Victoria Hospital for more than a year.

"He needs more and more oxygen. Neurologically speaking, he's been diagnosed with locked-in syndrome," said Luciana D'Amore, who has seen her husband transferred from facility to facility.

Despite this syndrome, which means he can't communicate, Casale reacts when his wife speaks to him.

D'Amore wants her husband to remain at the Royal Victoria and said she is prepared to go to court to secure the care her husband needs, especially for his collapsing lungs.

The medical team at the hospital, however, wants to transfer him to a long-term care facility. They told

D'Amore they will charge her $1,444 per day if she insists on keeping her husband at the hospital.
If she refuses to pay, they will transfer Casale to the Montreal Chest Institute.

The hospital declined to comment on the case directly but hinted it did everything it could for the man.