Pregnant women who will be delivering their babies at the Lakeshore General Hospital should not ask for a private room if they want one. Why? You’ll get one anyway at no cost. However, if a mother requests a private or semi-private room, she is charged full price (private $176.60 per day, semi-private $77.71)  – even though no other kind is available. Since the 15-room maternity ward only has private rooms, patients who ask for a ward room, are given – without charge – a private room.
“Our interpretation of the Quebec government’s directive is that even though we only have private rooms, we have to ask the patient what kind of room they want and bill them if they ask for semi-private or private,” hospital spokesman Louis-Pascal Cyr said last week.
There is no plan to change this directive so women who continue to ask for a private or semi-private room in the maternity ward will continue to pay, while those who don’t ask will still get a private room at no charge. (details came from The Gazette)