Rental Wheelchairs for Short Term Usage
- Renting a wheelchair can be a practical alternative for the patient who expects to be confined to a wheelchair for only a short period of time. For example, this could be someone with a broken leg in a cast, a pregnant mother on bedrest or hospice patient who won't be needing the chair for years to come.
- Some hospitals have wheelchair rental services available, and there may be rental or leasing programs available through your local wheelchair dealer and re-seller as well. Even if they don't have an established program, it's possible that they would be willing to rent you a used chair if they see it will be profitable for them. Ask, ask ask!
- One downside of renting a wheelchair is that it is likely that you will only have a small selection to choose from. It may be difficult to find larger electric wheelchairs available or child-sized models. However, if all you need is a simple push-chair, this should not be a problem!
- To determine if renting is right for you, economically, take the number of weeks you plan to be using the chair and multiply that by the weekly or monthly rental rate. Running the figures ahead of time, and comparing to the cost of buying a chair new (or used!) should give you a great sense of whether you'll be better of buying or renting your wheelchair.