Patients and visitors can now tap into free Wi-Fi at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital
Island Health announced Wednesday that NRGH is the second facility on Vancouver Island to provide free, public Wi-Fi thanks to the Nanaimo Hospital Auxiliary.
The auxiliary has committed to paying the $5,000 annual operating cost for the service.
“We are happy to be able to provide this amenity to patients and guests at NRGH and make it a little easier [for] them to use their e-mail or access the internet while they’re here,” said Phil Robling, auxiliary president, in a press release.
NRGH site director Marci Ekland said “patients and visitors will appreciate having access to Wi-Fi, particularly if they need to spend long periods of time in the hospital. We’re truly grateful to the auxiliary for supporting this service.”
Free public Wi-Fi was first offered at the new two-campus North Island Hospital that opened last fall. Island Health aims to expand the service to other facilities in the future, although it has not come up with a timeline to do so.
The service at NRGH is provided through an existing Wi-Fi system and supports basic Internet browsing, not large large bandwidths associated with high-definition video streaming, according to the Island Health press release.
People can use the new service by connecting to the wireless network ‘IslandHealthGuestWiFi.’