To the editor,
Re: Free Wi-Fi now available at NRGH, June 20.
Now that hospitals are offering free Wi-Fi, more and more people will be bringing tablets and cellphones to the hospital. Since all these devices have cameras, and promote talking, has any consideration been given to privacy issues and higher noise levels?
Undoubtedly there will be signs requesting you don’t take pictures and respect privacy, but we all know how well speed limit and dog park signs work. Even without intending to, a video of your misery could be transmitted in the background of somebody else’s Skype call.
If you want your privacy, or a respite from your roommates’ endless phone calls, the hospital will be happy to provide you with a private room – at a price.
In the past, hospitals were run as places to rest and heal with privacy being paramount. Now conversations with health care workers, about your condition and treatment options, can be heard anywhere – via the next patient’s cellphone. It doesn’t sound like progress to me.
S. I. Petersen, Nanaimo
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