Aging elevators at Florida veterans hospital hurt at least 12 people over the last two years
Failing elevators at a veterans hospital in Miami have injured at least a dozen people over two years, according to a nurses’ union that called the lifts a “death trap.”
The elevators at the Miami VA Medical Center tend to suddenly drop several floors, creating a danger for injured and ill patients, according to union officials.
Bill Frogameni, a registered nurse at the hospital and the director of National Nurses United Miami VA chapter, told the Miami Herald about the deplorable conditions.
He lamented that the center “is supposed to be a place of healing. It is not supposed to have death trap elevators.”
All of the main elevators in the 12-story hospital have had issues flagged during a 2023 assessment obtained by the Herald.
The building, which has been standing for almost six decades, has been plagued with structural issues for years including problems with its air-conditioning and roof leaks, according to employees.
The VA had previously asserted that all the issues were resolved, but some hospital employees are still doubtful and wary of the elevators for their own sake and also the safety of their patients.
Several reported that the elevators had dropped several floors while they were still inside over the last few years. At least one worker even cited a “career-ending” injury requiring back surgery that resulted from a fall in the elevator, according to Frogameni and Eurys Gamez, a registered nurse in the center’s psychiatric wing and the union’s safety officer.
An additional employee told the Herald that they had suffered an ankle injury after the elevator dropped multiple stories.
In a recent meeting, VA management officials assured employees that they are addressing the long list of safety concerns. Of the fixes in the works, the officials claimed that they have instructed deliverers to not put pallet jacks in some elevators that can only handle a certain weight, according to Jeffrey Jones, president of the Miami VA’s local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Frogameni and Jones are also working with their unions to monitor the situation to ensure that no further issues arise.
“This is a safety topic that needs to be tackled immediately,” Jones said.
In 2023, the Miami VA was hit hard during South Florida’s hottest summer on record. It had spent thousands of dollars on an ancient HVAC system that shut down in the middle of the heat wave. Because of this, the hospital had to briefly stall elective surgeries and move patients from their rooms.
As the air-conditioning issues persist, the VA estimates that it won’t be able to replace all the aging equipment, including chillers and more than a dozen broken air handler units until 2027.
“This entire building has a lot of issues — electrical, plumbing-wise, roofing, leaking roofs — we have all types of issues in the building. But we’re focusing now on the most critical part, where people are getting injured in elevators,” said Gamez.
The elevator horror stories range from brief dips to full-on plummets.
One employee and another colleague said that after taking a patient up to one of the medical floors, the elevator dropped about eight floors “like a free fall” before it halted and bounced.
Currently, all elevators are “in working order,” the Miami VA told the Miami Herald in a statement.
Still, hospital workers and patients alike aren’t at ease just yet.
“Every time I step into an elevator, it’s like playing Russian roulette,” Gamez told the outlet. “Is it gonna take me where I need to go or is it gonna drop on me and I’m gonna get hurt?”
