Penfeld elevator leaves residents stranded
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An elevator at a mental health housing complex has stopped working 11 times over the span of two weeks leaving tenants with mobility issues stranded for extended periods of time.
Penfeld Court is a 24-unit apartment complex that provides affordable housing for people with mental health needs and is owned and managed by Eden Residential Care Services. On Aug. 8, the building’s elevator broke down. Staff called an elevator repair company to repair the elevator. After which, the elevator broke down 11 more times over the span of two weeks.
“We have a new company that is going to come in because we are not satisfied with the repairs done to date. They’ve been dispatched and are going to be working and we’re asking them to give us the solutions to ensure that this doesn’t continue happening,” said Brad Unger, Eden Health Care Services CEO.
The elevator is now repaired and is in working order. Unger said the reason it took two weeks to repair is because the elevator company was waiting for a part from Europe to arrive, so temporary fixes were the only solution.
In the meantime, wheelchair bound residents that live on the upper floors have had a difficult time accessing their apartments or leaving their apartments. Unger said Eden has an agreement with the Steinbach fire department to provide services to residents who need access.
“Eden has been able to dispatch through Steinbach fire department to assist when it’s been made aware that assistance is needed, so that has happened.”
Unger said residents who are stranded out of their apartments can rely on support staff to get their medication for them when the elevator breaks down for extended periods of time.
“This has been a very unfortunate situation and we’re apologetic to the residents for the disruption this has been on their lives. We’re doing everything we can to come up with solutions that are going to be long lasting so that we can restore service and maintain a really solid building with some really solid supports for the tenants there.”
