Broken elevator presents problems at W. Wichita senior living facility

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - An inoperable elevator is making life challenging for many living at Woodlake Senior Residences in west Wichita. The elevator hasn’t worked for more than a week, keeping residents and visitors with mobility issues from leaving or getting to the second floor without help.

Ricky Downs, whose 75-year-old sister-in-law lives on the second floor, spoke of the challenges she’s faced since the elevator stopped working.

“She’s actually Stage 4 renal failure and she’s got bad hips and it’s hard for her to climb up and down the stairs,” he said. “And she’s getting ready for hip surgery on the 21st, but it just makes it difficult for any of these folks to get up and down.”

The sign posted on the entrance door says management is working with an elevator company to fix the problem, but some parts needed for the repair are obsolete, meaning it will take time to find them.

“Something needs to be done because now they’re saying it can be up to three weeks before it gets fixed and that is just too long for everybody,” Downs said. “And the parts, from what I understand, are obsolete. You’re going to have to make parts or gets parts somewhere else.”

Mennonite Housing owns Woodlake Senior Residences.

“We’ve been in touch, since it went down, with providers trying to get this addressed as soon as possible,” said Mennonite Housing President Byron Adrian.

Downs said, “people are kind of disgruntled,” having to use the stairs.

“And this is an elderly center, you know,” he said. “They’ve got older people in there. It’s hard for them.”

Adrian said people are understanding as the facility works to fix the inconvenience.

“So far, I think everybody is doing a good job to get through this situation,” he said.

Downs said despite the troubles, he will be by his sister-in-law’s side every step of the way.

“I said, ‘I will get you upstairs one way or another, or I will have somebody help me get you up the stairs,’” he said.

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