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Free TVs not free

The Masset hospital has begun charging patients $2 a day to use the televisions in their rooms, even though all the TVs were donated to the hospital by the Lions Club.Site administrator Kim Mushynsky said the hospital implemented the new charge last week. The reason, she said, is that the hospital has had to pay a monthly fee to cable provider MHTV since it moved to its new site late last year. At the old hospital, there were no MHTV fees, because the military installed the wiring and fees were permanently waived. Even though the hospital didn't have to pay for the televisions, it still has to pay the MHTV bill every month. The $2 per day charge should cover that, Ms Mushynsky said."We don't want to make money, we just want to cover our costs," she said.Ms Mushynsky said she has only received one comment so far about the new charge. That was from a patient who had just transferred from a Vancouver hospital and was relieved to find the TV charge so low. In Vancouver, it was $10 a day, she said.