MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Residents at a senior living facility in Mont Belvieu are facing challenges as persistent elevator failures leave many stranded in their upper-floor apartments, forcing some to miss critical medical appointments.
The ongoing issues at The Retreat at Barbers Hill, managed by Asset Living, have plagued residents for several years, with conditions worsening over the past year, according to multiple residents.
“It’s been a lot difficult, we have to stay up here and can’t do nothing,” said Richard Purcell, who has lived there for eight months.
Purcell, who is a double amputee, recently required assistance from others to navigate the stairs when the elevators failed.
“I got another wheelchair that’s in there, not the electric one, and he bent me over and walked down the stairs,” Purcell explained, describing how a friend helped him get down.
The situation has already resulted in at least one injury. Joseph Hall reported falling on the stairs when forced to use them during an elevator outage, resulting in a bruise that required hospital treatment.
“There’s only two ways for us to get down, that way and that one right back there,” Purcell said, referring to the staircases that many seniors are unable to navigate safely.
Lisa Jacobson, Secretary for Chamber County’s Precinct 3 Commissioner, expressed concern about residents’ ability to access vital services.
“We have the Chambers County Senior Citizen Transportation Program. We take senior citizens, disabled citizens, and veterans to doctor’s appointments, grocery stores, all that, and that’s a free service,” Jacobson said.
However, the program cannot serve its purpose if residents cannot reach the ground floor.
Asset Living, the property management company, attributes the latest failures to severe weather damage affecting control panels in two of the three elevators.
The company states they have ordered replacement parts and are “committed to getting the problem fully resolved as soon as possible.”
This isn’t the first time Asset Living has faced scrutiny over elevator maintenance. The same company previously addressed similar issues at their Missouri City facility only after media intervention.