Ombudsman Role

In our previous Update, we identified the role of the Long Term Care Ombudsman as 
being for the purpose of "...hearing, investigating, and resolving complaints by, or on
behalf of, and rendering advice to, elderly  individuals who are patients or residents..."

Our office has a received a few calls from Administrators telling us that some Ombudsman
have been telling them that, due to the budget crisis and the inability of state inspectors to
do more frequent facility inspections, the Ombudsman were going to assist other state
agencies by inspecting facilities for compliance with Title 22 Regulation requirements and
helping with this enforcement.

Please note that this is not the role of an Ombudsman. Like all health care and residential
care professionals, they are resident advocates. They are not regulatory enforcement officials,
however. If they have questions or concerns about resident care, we will definitely address
these concerns in a warm and mutually respectful manner. If you have questions or concerns
about an Ombudsman's role or comportment, please communicate this to your Licensing
Program Analyst. And you or your attorney are welcome to contact us as well.