Do You or Someone You Know Need a
LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN?
By Sharon Conley, M.Ed., M.S. | Long-Term Care Ombudsman
If you’re asking yourself what is a Long-Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO) you’re probably not the only one. It is one of the programs at the Athens Community Council on Aging. The Ombudsman goes to long-term care facilities such as personal care homes and nursing homes and act as an advocate for the resident’s rights and needs. This might entail something fairly simple such as informing the dietary manager a resident has a concern about the temperature of the morning coffee to more serious allegations of verbal and or physical abuse by a staff member toward a resident. The LTCO office investigates a resident’s concern with their permission to try and resolve the concern and improve the quality of life for the resident. The Ombudsman office often works with the Georgia State Healthcare Facilities Regulators office as well. The residents of long term care homes/facilities have the right to complain about their care, treatment, and environment among other things and the law protects these residents from retaliation by the personal care home or nursing home staff. Among a long list of rights afforded those living in long term care is the right to rise and retire at a time of the resident’s choosing, the right to refuse medical treatment, and the right to a 30 day written notice prior to an involuntary discharge from the home/facility. Because Georgia has such a large elder population who may at some point need more care than can be provided at home, it is important to know about the resources of the LTCO office. If you are looking for placement for yourself or a loved one you can call the LTCO office and get information about the number Over the past fiscal of complaints if any a facility has had in the last year and a general idea about year, the Ombudsman’s the nature of the complaints. The office also offers general information about office has served about what to look for when searching for a long term care placement as well as 10,000 people in a referral information. 10 county area. This includes approximately The office of the Northeast Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman is composed 20 nursing homes of Robin Miller, Sharon Stricklett, and Sharon Conley. They bring considerable and 120 personal care experience working with elder and disabled populations and are highly skilled homes. in advocating for the rights and needs of these specific groups. As a program of ACCA, LTCO was established under Title VII of the Older Americans Act (OAA), the Administration on Aging (AoA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers the nationwide program. The program is funded by two separate titles of the OAA, in addition to other federal sources, state funds, and non federal funds. If you have questions about the services provided by the LTCO or would like to volunteer please call Sharon Conley at 706-549-4850.
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