Faulty elevators at a Miami veterans hospital have injured at least a dozen people over two years, according to a report.
For years, staff have claimed that elevators haven’t been working properly, with some even reporting drops of up to eight floors at one time. One likened the experience to a “Hollywood Horror Ride.”
All of the elevators at the 12-story Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami had some parts in “poor or critical condition,” according to a 2023 assessment obtained by the Miami Herald. Several workers attested to the defective elevators with their own alarming stories of plummeting many floors through the 1968 building.
One employee, who asked not be named, was heading down to ER having escorted a patient to the upper floors of the hospital when an elevator suddenly stopped before dropping eight floors “like a free fall” before it got stuck and began to bounce, according to the outlet.
Another employee suffered a “career-ending” injury after dealing with a malfunctioning elevator. Yet another wounded their ankle after dropping several floors, employees told the outlet.
The most recent injury employees are aware of happened in later 2024, according to the Herald.
But the elevator apparently isn’t just dropping. One employee told CBS News last month: "I get on the elevator, initially, I'm going to go to the second floor. The elevator skips the second floor, goes to the third, falls all the way back down to the first.”
Another worker with a similar experience said: "It felt like the Hollywood Horror Ride."
The hospital “is supposed to be a place of healing. It is not supposed to have death trap elevators,” Bill Frogameni, a registered nurse who works at the veteran’s hospital and the director of National Nurses United Miami VA chapter, told the Miami Herald.
A Miami VA spokesperson told the Miami Herald that all of the elevators at the center were “in working order.”
“When elevator issues arise, the Miami VA Medical Center works to address them immediately,” the spokesperson said. All the hospital elevators “are in working order and compliance with current elevator safety standards.”
Last month, a spokesperson told CBS News: “Regarding elevator operations, although some issues have occurred, all concerns are taken very seriously and addressed immediately. Our facilities management service regularly conducts inspections and maintenance to ensure compliance with all safety and regulatory standards, addressing issues promptly and responsibly.”
Frogameni and Jeffrey Jones, president of the Miami VA’s local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, said their unions are keeping an eye on the situation.
“This is a safety topic that needs to be tackled immediately,” Jones told the Miami Herald.
Eurys Gamez, a registered nurse who works at the hospital and a local safety officer for the National Nurses Union, told the outlet: “Every time I step into an elevator, it’s like playing Russian roulette. Is it gonna take me where I need to go or is it gonna drop on me and I’m gonna get hurt?”
The Independent has contacted Miami VA for comment.
