The shocking costs of using a TV in a Canadian hospital are leading to many questions and accusations of Telus price gouging after one patient’s family shared their recent experience.
Shahin posted a picture on Reddit of a TV set in his sister’s hospital room at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the sky-high fees to watch it.
The TV gave them several options, including $14.95 for 24 hours, $74.95 for seven days, $124.95 for 14 days, or $224.95 for 28 days.
“I took this photo from my sister’s hospital room as she’s going through an unimaginably tough time health-wise. This seems like an egregious price to pay just for some TV to watch while at the hospital,” the post said.
Shahin spoke to Daily Hive and said he was “quite shocked” when they saw the price, adding that no one pays that much for home services.
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“My sister is in rough shape and isn’t all there, but it’s just nice to have something in the background so you don’t focus on pain. I don’t have a laptop to plug in, unfortunately, and it seems like I’m not able to cast from our wireless devices,” he said.
He added that the situation has been challenging for their family.
“She has been there for over a week now. At the moment, we don’t know how long she will be there because she really is not doing well.”
We asked if he tried speaking to staff about the issue.
“They just directed me to the rental options.”
He equated seeing the price to a “slap in the face when your loved one is suffering in the hospital” when Canada is “already on the high end globally for many of our telecom needs.”
In response to the online post, to say people are upset is an understatement.
Many reflected that you can’t even be in a hospital anymore without being reminded about the rising cost of living in this country.
“Cable TV used to be offered for FREE in hospitals. I can’t believe they’re even doing this. If you have a laptop or tablet, there should be free WiFi, and she can watch TV on there,” one comment said.
However, even that commenter feared hospitals would soon start charging patients for WiFi.
Another BC resident shared the extent of their experience with a hospital blocking services. Many Redditors suggested using a personal device with a virtual private network to stream through services like Netflix to get around the TV paywall. But that workaround isn’t for everyone.
“At our local hospital, none of the streaming services work at all; they’ve got them all blocked. VPN gets around that if you know how to use it, but the average person probably doesn’t,” the Redditor said.
VCH told us that they’re not blocking streaming services and that WiFi is free for the public.
One user said, “Bruh, screw that; I would bring a laptop and hook it up to the screen.”
So, who’s responsible?
According to VCH and Telus, the latter collaborates with the health authority and hospitals to provide these services.
Telus told Daily Hive that it provides Optik TV services to various health authorities in BC and Alberta.
“While all hospital locations provide free TV access in public and common areas such as lounges and waiting areas, some locations offer personal TV service in certain patient rooms as an optional upgrade with a pay-per-use model,” A Telus spokesperson told Daily Hive.
“This service includes more than 2,000 music channels, 130 TV channels, and free Optik TV local content. Pricing is determined by TELUS, the health authorities, and the hospitals, and it supports the investment required to connect and provide the service.”
We also expect a statement about the situation from VCH.
Have you ever experienced having to pay for TV in a Canadian hospital? Let us know in the comments.
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