‘Nonstop all day': Concerns over long lines to get into Pembroke Pines senior community

There's growing concern and frustration as people say they have been waiting in long lines for hours to get into a Pembroke Pines senior community.

People with family members at the Century Village adult independent living condominium community told NBC6 they’re waiting to see their elderly parents, nurses said they can't get to their patients on time, and others are being forced to come back another time.

Lee Aloni waited in line for about 20 minutes Monday to go check on her 91-year-old mother. She said when her son came to visit his grandmother, it took him more than an hour to get through.

“He said, mom, there's something wrong here. He's like, I'm sitting here 45 minutes and it's not budging, I don't understand it, and it ended up being an hour and 15 minutes for him to finally get in to see his grandmother, my mother,” Aloni said. “It just changed overnight, no one was given warning at all.”

Sean Marks also noticed the problem on Monday. He said his mother's nurse waited in line longer than that.

“It's nonstop all day, it's taking healthcare workers over two hours to see their patient,” Marks said. “This brings tears to my eyes. People are going to start and die in here and it's just not right, we need answers.”

Healthcare workers like Arlene Rose said she was late seeing her patient because of the backup.

“Somebody else is there I have to relieve, and that person has another job they have to go to, so I'm always going to be late getting there,” Rose said.

Several people told NBC6 the lines went all the way back to Pines Boulevard earlier in the week. They also said the problem is with security.

NBC6 spoke with Denis Kersaint, an agent working in the Century Village real estate office, who said at the start of the week, the security company at the entrance began enforcing an identification rule because there were former residents still in the system with access to the community.

He said the long lines have to do with how large the community is and the amount of vendors that have to come into the community daily. 

Many people Thursday said they want answers sooner rather than later.

“This is just not right, whoever did this thinking didn't think it out,” Marks said.

NBC6 called Century Village several times and left them messages on Thursday.