One of the women’s wards at the Hospital de Clínicas of the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), in Curitiba, has the only television out of order since October 2025. The ward receives patients who are in palliative care but cannot return home. Some of these people can no longer read or use a cell phone, so watching TV is the only entertainment option before they pass away.
The television available in one of the rooms – which housed three women and their companions last week (one of the patients died on Sunday, March 8) – had a sign stuck to the screen detailing the “obsolescence term.” The repair would cost R$ 600, but, as UFPR explained to Plural, a new television of a similar model costs R$ 700 and therefore it was not worth fixing it.
Aline Reis
However, UFPR reported that the replacement process is underway. “It should also be noted that this television is UFPR property, assigned for use in the Hospital de Clínicas as part of the Ebserh management contract. Thus, the process of disposal and replacement of this asset has additional stages that must be fulfilled, but it is underway. CHC-UFPR regrets the slowness of the process but is taking the possible measures to resolve this situation.”
Understand
The television was considered “unserviceable.” According to UFPR, “for a public administration asset to be considered ‘unserviceable,’ it must meet certain conditions. For example, and simplifying a bit, if the amount needed to keep the asset operational is very high, if spare parts are no longer readily available, or the replacement cost is low.”
There is still no date for when the patients in the ward will be able to use a new television.
