Any body out there interested in paying $310 a month for basic cable TV?
If you have the misfortune to have to be in hospital for an extended period, thats what you will pay!
These ‘Hospitality Network’ bandits are common in Vancouver area hospitals and are based in eastern Canada.
The local hospital has had free TV for patients for years, but in July I saw an HN tech. stringing new cable and putting in control boxes behind each bed with their cute little price list.
Talk about taking advantage of the helpless!
Why do public hospitals let these crooks in? We have a City ‘owned’ cable company here. Why didn’t they bid on this. I am sure that with the system already in place they could provide this service at a more ‘humane’ rate.
That’s a very good question, might be one to ask councillor Briglio during the upcoming municipal election campaign, considering he’s on the board of NH and on council…
I bet you any money the idiots in Prince George signed a contract for those bandits to supply cable for the region I can understand a buck or two a day after maybe a $10 hookup fee but $10 a day that is highway robbery
Before we start the witchhunt, let’s be sure this is actually going to happen. Seeing somebody who appeared to be an employee putting in some equipment doesn’t mean that there will be a large price tag, or any at all, on TV.
In August when I was up and around the Hospital I saw no boxes or prices.
Even if a price tag was put on television, maybe it will be covered by our insurance as part of the hospital stay?
The worst thing that happens here is that people who stay in the hospital have to pay a bit to get access to TV. So? Even if you THINK that TV was free in the CLOCKED OUT, it most certainly was not. The patients just didn’t foot the bill. I admit, the price you quoted is rather extreme–but I also think it’s an exaggeration. If a patient can’t afford to watch television–ASSUMING that any price tags are put in place–they can always crack open a book.
eccentric the friend of the common man and woman!
Eccentric. Google in Hospitality Network and check out their ‘business locations’ and price list!!! When You go to the hospital next time remember to wear clean glasses!
As a bit of information for Eccentric, I didn’t post this topic because I saw the price list on the hospital wall.
I had a family member in VGH for a considerable amount of time last year and had to pay these rates! Plus $3 per day for a telephone plus an ‘Administration’ fee of $10. Thank god they haven’t wired our hospital for their phones yet, and they haven’t shoved in their admin. fee.
People in hospital are a captive audience, and for most people TV is about the only way to relieve the boredom. Pull the plug on YOUR TV and read books for a couple of months.
If these people can set up shop in a Pubic facility whats next? A Starbucks in the hall?
And I repeat, why didn’t our local cable company get a chance to provide this service?
They have to pay for tv at BC Women’s Hospital too, and a phone in your private room has a daily or weekly rate as well. No big deal. It’s a pain in the ass to have to pay extra, but it’s a luxury… you pay for it at home as well!
Again–who says they’re moving in at PRRH?
You’re correct, a Starbucks seems kind of silly–but there are vending machines already. No one seems to argue that Diet Coke should be free.
Bottom line, you get pretty good service at our hospital. The meals are good, the staff is good, and thus far television has been provided. Television, however, is a privilege–and I’m sure that if Northern Health realizes they need the TV revenue, they’ll put in place some sort of pay-as-you-go system. (Hey–we owe them, they’ve been paying for the patients “free” TV for ages!)
[quote=“eccentric”]
Again–who says they’re moving in at PRRH?[/quote]
It has been mentioned a few times in this thread already:
Yep, you have to pay for TV at the hospital in Prince Rupert now.
When I had my daughter in July, there were just in midst of setting it up.
Something like $10/day and you have to have a credit card to pay.
No TV for me when baby was napping…/sigh.
Had to get my fiance to entertain me, hehe.
I’m from Nanaimo, and though I don’t know or remember the prices of the TV or phone there, I know you’ve had to pay for it for years.
doesn’t seem right to charge that much for a little bit of comfort when you’re sick 
Ah, I see. All that had been mentioned was that the OP saw someone installing some sort of unit–didn’t realize it was already in effect.
In that case, I think the “TV isn’t free” argument that myself and others have used stands strong on its own.
I think we’re missing the main point of his discussion piece, the fact that the city owns a television cable provider (which is providing services in most of the cities that NH serves in the western half of the region), thusly they should be more than able to provide the required television product and hopefully at a significantly lower rate than the out of town operation.
It would be the hometown benefit of owning such a company, as its proponents frequently point out.
NH should be thinking of the local community and the patients they serve in this case…
You are assuming of course that the local provider didn’t get outbid for the contract or that they even chose to bid at all. We ARE talking about the company who had to get dragged kicking and screaming into providing data services. Perhaps they believe that hospital patients wouldn’t want TV so there’s no reason to bid on the contract.
That’s possible, and it’s also possible that Hospitality Network offers something/things that our local provider does not. I imagine there’s something special about them if they provide service for hospitals accross the country.
I’d assume that something special would be kickbacks 
How about the actual equipment to watch TV? CityWest couldn’t provide that in any case - unless they drastically change their business model. They are a provider of TV signals - not TVs themselves.
Probably–but that’s no different than having Coca-Cola vending machines for the kickbacks, rather than having a local convenience store set up a small stand in the lobby.
Like it or not, the job of Northern Health is to make sure the people living within our region get the care they need. Complimentary television isn’t at the top of their list. If they need to charge for television, that’s understandable–the people who use the service will help pay for the service. Plus, I doubt people in the ECU will be on the same system, and therefore I doubt that people who DO stay in the hospital for extended stays will be paying the 300 dollars per month bill.
I think it’s silly that just because a City Councillor happens to be affiliated with Northern Health, we expect Northern Health to use a service that might be less beneficial for the hospital.