Are you not entertained? MUHC patients complain of high cost of television

CTV Montreal: The cost of TV in hospitals The MUHC's patients' committee is asking the hospital to lower the cost of its television rental service.

Patients at the McGill University Health Centre are complaining that the cost of watching television is too high.

Renting television service costs $17 for the first day, with an additional $13.50 for each subsequent day. The service is provided by a company called Hopitel, which pays an annual fee to the MUHC in exchange for buying, installing and maintaining all the televisions in the hospital.

According to the MUHC, most of the money paid by patients goes to Hopitel, with the MUHC getting a share, though the hospital wouldn’t say what the split in revenue is.

MUHC Central Users’ Committee member Thomas McCutcheon said that arrangement could be altered to benefit patients.

“One way of reducing the cost is by the hospital not taking any money from Hopitel and give that money back to the patient via reduction of price,” he said.

In a statement, the MUHC declined to comment but said the hospital is not considering offering TV services on its own and focuses on “multidisciplinary care for patients from across Quebec.”

Other hospitals, such as the Children’s Hospital, offer television services for free. The MUHC does provide free wifi to patients. But for McCutcheon, that's not enough.

"Especially for patients with low income and patients that don't have jobs or are on fixed income and are in the hospital, if you're there for two days it's not so bad, but if you're there for a week plus, it becomes very expensive," he said. "If you're in bed for a long time, (if you don't have a laptop or cell phone) the days get very long. TV is a good source of distractions to get your mind away from the bed rest."