At the Miami VA Medical Center, failing hospital elevators have injured at least a dozen patients in recent years. Union representatives describe them as “death traps,” citing incidents where elevators suddenly dropped several floors, causing serious injuries including back surgery. Despite assurances that fixes are underway, staff remain wary due to ongoing reliability issues in the aging 12‑story building .

In the broader U.S., an elevator crisis looms as approximately one million elevators—many aging—face costly repairs, parts shortages, and fragmented state-level regulations. Parts scarcity is worsened by suppliers prioritizing Chinese projects, while up to 80% of reliability issues may be resolved simply by replacing malfunctioning elevator doors. Efforts toward federal safety standards could significantly improve reliability and reduce public impact from frequent outages