NEWS

TV Rentals Increase Financial Support for SMGH

March 10, 2010

SMGH Foundation has managed television rentals for one month.

Previously, TV rentals were made through a company out of Sarnia, run by a part-time employee who visited the hospital once a week to turn on programming.

Over the past month, access to TV has increased with the opportunity to rent daily (Monday-Friday) from Dee Sammur, the SMGH on-site sales representative. You may recognize Dee as the parking attendant, he serves both roles. In fact, the number of TVs rented has increased by almost 75% and this change has dramatically improved customer satisfaction.

Having familiar comforts of home like TV, can help patients get their mind off illness or disease, and being able to watch a favourite show can help lift spirits. The Olympic coverage was especially popular!

Other Great News about the new TVs

• improved customer satisfaction with better access to an entertainment service with a wide variety of programming
• SMGH Foundation was able to negotiate a contract with the new TV provider resulting in a higher percentage of each TV rental donated to the hospital
• this increase in revenue allows the Foundation to transfer more funds to the hospital for the purchase of new equipment
• new flat-panel televisions have been installed that use less energy and TV signals have improved

The Not so Great News

• some of the TV wall mounts are almost 50 years old and have become fragile
• with the increase in TV rentals, there has been additional stress to the mounts, and several TV screens have started to pull away

As a result, all TV rentals have been put on hold pending the complete inspection of wall mounts and any required corrections be made.

The inspection has been on-going since March 5, and will continue over the next 12 days with the help of the maintenance department and the TV rental provider.

TV service will be resumed as soon as possible.