Survivorship of patients placed into long-term care facilities within the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth was studied over a seven-year period from 1980 to 1987. All patients had been assessed prior to placement by the Placement and Coordination Service and their computer files served as the data base for this study. Over the seven years, 25 per cent of patients died in each of nursing homes, homes for the aged and lodging homes and over 50 per cent of patients died after being placed in chronic care hospitals. Approximately 10 per cent of the deaths occurred in the first year after placement in the lodging homes, homes for the aged and nursing homes, whereas 25 per cent died in this time in chronic care beds. Survivorship rates of all patients combined differed significantly for males compared with females, but were not significantly different for variables such as age at time of placement, marital status, ambulation, living arrangement, previous location of community versus institutions, and agreement between recommended and final placement. Client's memory at time of placement was associated with survivorship in a nursing home: males with “no recall” and females with “marked confusion” and “no recall” survived longer than those with “normal” memory.