John Pearse might be bed-bound at Tauranga Hospital - but that doesn't mean he can't surf.
Free access to wireless internet has just been made available within the hospital grounds by internet company EOL, through an expansion of its hotspot service.
Mr Pearse, 72, has spent the past 16 weeks in thehospital's Health in Ageing department after a spinal stroke and uses the service most days while surfing the internet on his laptop computer.
"They set it up for me and I think it's a great service. It means I can go online any time at all."
The Papamoa resident uses the internet for online banking, to email his family and to catch up on news websites online when not reading his daily-delivered copy of the Bay of Plenty Times.
EOL managing director Terry Coles said the initiative was an expansion of the company's existing Wi-Fi hotspot service around the Western Bay.
"We hope that by providing internet access free of charge, patients can remain connected to the outside world and help pass the time more easily," Mr Coles said.
"It will also benefit the general public who may have to spend time waiting for an outpatient clinic appointment or at the bedside of a loved one."
Mr Coles said the lack of internet access was a common patient complaint so EOL decided to offer the free service to demonstrate to the Bay of Plenty District Health Board how the company could help.
EOL's other Wi-Fi hotspots cover locations such as Tauranga's CBD, The Strand, Marine Parade, Pilot Bay and the Beachside Holiday Park at the base of Mount Maunganui.
Limited coverage is also available at Grace Hospital in Oropi and discussions are under way to set up Wi-Fi hotspots at the new TECT All Terrain Park in Pyes Pa.
