Janice Anderson could barely move around her home without her powered wheelchair. Procare Mobility and Medical Supply found a way to get her chair fixed quickly.
SAN ANTONIO — Janice Anderson has problems with her knee that keeps her from walking. She relies on her powered wheelchair to get to the grocery story and do chores around the house.
In April, that chair suddenly stopped working.
“I let it charge for two days. It wouldn’t do nothing,” Anderson said.
The chair needed new batteries.
Anderson originally got the chair in 2021. She started making calls to find out who would be able to fix the chair. Eventually, she called Procare Mobility and Medical Supply in early May and the company came out to diagnose the chair.
Procare gave her a regular wheelchair and started their process to get the chair fixed. But then, the process stalled.
Anderson said Procare still needed information from her doctor to send to the insurance company. When she called her doctor’s office, they claimed they already sent the information. Anderson said she called both parties every day to try and get it solved but nothing happened.
“I call them everyday asking for updates on my wheelchair,” Anderson said. “It’s just a never-ending circle. It just goes round and round and round.”
This continued for the next month. Anderson had to call her son and daughter, who now have their own families, for everyday help because she could barely move around in her own home.
Finally, a family member told her to call KENS 5.
“I’m not used to depending on people. I’m used to doing things for myself. But now that I can’t, It bothers me.” Anderson said. “I don’t like to burden nobody or bother nobody… Now I’m just stuck here.”
KENS 5 reached out to both Procare Mobility and Medical Supply and to Anderson’s doctors office.
Procare Director of Operations Stephen Touchet started looking into the issue and quickly called KENS 5 back.
Touchet told KENS 5 in an interview that Anderson had been calling them multiple times a day and they had then called her doctor multiple times for the necessary paperwork to fix the chair.
He said they still didn’t have all the paperwork they would typically need. At the same time, Touchet said he absolutely understood the situation Anderson was in.
“We have several clients that… this [chair] is their legs. This is their car. This is how they get around. You have to have some passion and want to take care of your client,” Touchet said.
Touchet told KENS 5 they were now trying to work with the insurance company and move forward with the information they did have.
Additionally, KENS 5 called the doctor’s office and told the doctor that Procare still needed information to send to her insurance company. The doctor followed through.
Touchet told KENS 5 he was able to get the repair approved more quickly than expected and they made those repairs last Friday.
Anderson said the company made two trips out to her home that day to get her chair working. Now she was able to take care of herself once again.
“I went to HEB and had a good time shopping!” Anderson said. “I was happy. I did my shopping on my own. I came back and I’ve been all through the neighborhood. Now I can go outside and run around and everything!”
Procare told KENS 5 they will likely make more repairs to the power wheelchair in the coming weeks. Anderson’s thankful they got her moving once again and she’s glad she called KENS 5.
“I was going around in circles. If it hadn’t been for KENS 5 I don’t think I’d be sitting in my Cadillac [chair] right now.” she said.
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.