Medical Equipment Guide | What You Need and When
What equipment do you actually need?
Most people arrive here having never bought any of this before, usually in a difficult week. This page explains what each category of equipment is for, who it suits, and when renting beats buying — so you can decide before you spend anything.
- Hospital beds
- Toilet lifts
- Wheelchairs
- Bathroom safety
- Patient lifts
Jump to what you are looking for
Or read straight through — it takes about five minutes.
Measure the narrowest doorway on the route into the room, and the space where the equipment will actually sit. Almost every problem we see — a bed that will not turn a corner, a wheelchair too wide for a hallway — comes down to a measurement nobody took. It takes two minutes and it saves an enormous amount of trouble.
Hospital bed rentals
Full-electric beds for home use, by the week or the month.
A hospital bed at home usually becomes necessary for one of two reasons: someone can no longer get in and out of an ordinary bed safely, or whoever is caring for them cannot do so without hurting their own back. Height adjustment is the feature that matters most and the one people underestimate — being able to raise the whole bed to waist height changes what a caregiver can manage alone.
Renting suits a defined recovery. After a hip replacement or a stroke, needs often change within a few months, and returning a bed is far easier than reselling one. We deliver, assemble it in the room, and stay until whoever is providing care knows how the controls work.
Hospital beds to buy
Full-electric, low-height home care beds.
Buying makes sense once the need is clearly long-term. As a rough rule, if you expect to need the bed for more than about a year, owning usually costs less than renting over the same period — and you get to choose the exact model rather than whatever is in the rental fleet.
Low-height beds are worth understanding. A standard hospital bed sits higher than a domestic one, which helps caregivers but raises the consequence of a fall. A low-height model drops closer to the floor, which is the right choice where someone is confused at night or has a history of getting up unassisted.
Powered toilet lifts
Must Medical is the only authorized Dignity Lifts dealer in British Columbia.
Getting on and off the toilet is where a large share of bathroom falls happen, and it is also the task people are least willing to ask for help with. A raised toilet seat solves a small version of the problem for around a hundred dollars. A powered lift solves a much larger one: it lowers you down and raises you back up under its own power, so no one has to pull.
The Dignity Lifts DL2 provides fourteen inches of lift, runs on a rechargeable battery so it still works in a power cut, and installs in about twenty minutes over an existing toilet with no plumbing work and no renovation. That last point matters — the alternative is often a bathroom rebuild costing many times more.
Wheelchairs & transport chairs
The difference between the two decides who does the pushing.
A manual wheelchair has large rear wheels with hand rims, so the person sitting in it can propel themselves. A transport chair has small wheels and no rims — it must be pushed by someone else. Transport chairs are lighter and fold smaller, which suits appointments and outings; a self-propelled chair preserves independence at home. Choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake in this category.
Seat width matters more than price. Too narrow is uncomfortable and can cause pressure injuries; too wide makes self-propelling awkward and may not fit through a doorway. We stock 16 to 22 inch widths, including bariatric models rated to 450 lb, and we would rather measure properly than sell you the wrong size quickly.
Bathroom safety
Grab bars, shower chairs, transfer benches, raised toilet seats and safety frames.
The bathroom is where most falls at home happen, and the two moments that cause them are getting on or off the toilet, and getting in or out of the tub. Both involve standing on a wet surface while changing height, usually with nothing solid to hold.
Two things worth knowing. A suction grab bar is not a substitute for a wall-mounted one — it is fine for balance, not for taking someone's weight. And a bath transfer bench, which sits half in and half out of the tub so you sit down first and then swing your legs over, removes the single most dangerous movement in the room. It is the least glamorous item we sell and probably the most useful.
Patient lifts & transfer aids
Moving someone safely between bed, chair and bathroom.
Transfers are the point at which home care most often stops being sustainable. Lifting another adult by hand, several times a day, injures the person doing the lifting — and once the caregiver is hurt, the whole arrangement tends to collapse. A floor lift takes that strain out entirely.
Smaller transfer aids — slide sheets, transfer boards, sit-to-stand aids — cover the middle ground where someone can bear some weight but not all of it. If you are unsure which level applies, describe a normal transfer over the phone and we will tell you honestly whether you need a full lift or something simpler.
Rent or buy?
Usually the first real decision, and it comes down to how long the need will last.
Renting makes sense when
- The need is measured in weeks or a few months
- You are not yet sure the equipment suits
- Therapy may change what is needed
- A large upfront cost is not realistic right now
Buying makes sense when
- The need is long-term or permanent
- A year of rental would cost more than owning
- You want a specific model rather than fleet stock
- 0% financing with no credit check spreads the cost
How it works
From the first phone call to equipment set up in the room.
Describe the situation
Call or come in. You do not need a diagnosis, a list or a prescription to talk to us.
We narrow it down
Including telling you what to skip. Not everything on a hospital list gets used.
Try it, or have it delivered
Come to the Surrey showroom, or we deliver across Metro Vancouver, often the same day.
We set it up
Assembled in the room, adjusted to the person, and explained before we leave.
Common questions
Sizing, funding, delivery and what happens if you choose wrong.
How do I know what size or model to choose?
Describe the person and the home over the phone, or bring the measurements in. Height, weight, how far they can walk unaided, whether there are stairs, and the narrowest doorway on the route. Those five things settle most decisions. Guessing is what leads to returns.
Is any of this covered by MSP or insurance?
MSP generally does not fund home medical equipment. Funding usually comes through Ministry programs such as BCEA or PWD, extended health plans, ICBC or WorkSafeBC depending on the circumstances, and Ministry funding normally requires a prescription and pre-approval before purchase. We can provide the quotes and itemised documentation those applications need, though we cannot bill insurers directly.
Do I need a prescription or a referral?
Not to buy or rent from us. A letter from a doctor or occupational therapist may be required if you are claiming through insurance or a funding program, but it is not something we ask for.
What if we choose wrong?
Call us. If something does not fit the room or does not suit the person using it, we would rather sort it out than have it sit unused in a hallway. This is also the strongest argument for renting first when a need is short-term — it lowers the cost of changing your mind.
Can we see things before deciding?
Yes, and for beds, wheelchairs and lift chairs we would encourage it. Height ranges, seat widths and how a chair actually feels are difficult to judge from a photograph. Our Surrey showroom has equipment set up so you can try it.
How fast can you deliver?
Often the same day across Metro Vancouver, depending on the item and the time you call. We deliver and install rather than leaving boxes at the door.
Can we spread the cost?
Yes. We offer in-house financing at 0% interest with no credit check, and rentals can be taken weekly or monthly. You can work out payments on our payment calculator.
Where we deliver
Same-day delivery across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Not sure where to start? Just describe the situation
You do not need to know the right words for any of this. Tell us what happened and what is difficult, and we will work out the rest with you.
- Showroom: 8086 130 St Unit-3, Surrey, BC V3W 8J9
- 604-240-2450
- info@mustmedical.ca
- Open 24 hours, 7 days a week