disAbility Connections does on-site minor repairs to durable medical equipment that is out of warranty. The shop is called Fix-dis.
Seeking a volunteer to do minor repairs to walkers, manual wheelchairs and power wheelchairs/scooters. Time commitment would be 1-3 hours, 2-4 times a month.
Main equipment repaired are:
- Power chairs and scooters batteries, etc.
- Replace bearings, brake handles and wheels on walker/rollators
- Other items as possible
disAbility Connections started off doing durable medical equipment repairs in a back room. We now have an entire building with a shop dedicated to DME repairs and the storage of power wheelchairs and power scooters.
There is a real need for this service in the community. The nearest shops are in Lansing and Ann Arbor and are costly. Fix-dis is able to address the following problems:
- Insurance only replaces items every 5 years, unfortunately the warranty usually expires in one year.
- Warranty repairs can be done on certain things but does not cover normal wear and tear on the equipment.
- Warranty with Medicare also requires an 80/20 copay that some cannot afford.
- Finding a DME repair that takes Medicaid is difficult
- Sending an item for repair means the individual has to go without their equipment for days or even weeks.
The program is structured so that consumers make an appointment for repairs dependent upon volunteer availability. Consumers bring in their equipment the day before the volunteer is scheduled to work on it. disAbility Connections is able to provide free loaner equipment, so they do not go without and Fix-dis is normally able to complete the repair in one day.
