By Sarah Glorian
I have been on the Advisory Council for the Regional Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program since 2009 and have had the pleasure of working with three amazing women serving as the Ombudsman for Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. For the first time since the economy tanked, the program is finally back to having a full-time ombudsman. For years now, the Ombudsman has been a part-time position, reliant on volunteer ombudsmen to visit facilities to check on residents.
The Ombudsman is now housed under, and well-matched with, Olympic Area Agency on Aging (OAAA), an organization passionate about serving seniors and the disabled in these communities. The current and equally passionate Ombudsman, Amber Garrotte, was ideal to take on this role a year ago. She has extensive knowledge and connections with the senior and disabled populations in these communities from her prior 17 years with OAAA. In her first year, Amber has added seven volunteers — no small feat.
An ombudsman advocates for residents of nursing homes, adult family homes and assisted living facilities. Between Grays Harbor and Pacific counties, there are 21 facilities and over 700 residents. An Ombudsman’s role is to protect and promote Resident Rights guaranteed under Federal and State law.
The ombudsman program receives complaints and resolves problems in situations involving quality of care, use of restraints, transfer and discharge, abuse and other aspects of resident dignity and rights. The program is available to residents of nursing, assisted living facilities, adult family homes, and veteran’s homes, as well as relatives and friends of residents, and administrators and employees of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family homes and veterans’ homes, and finally, any group or individual concerned about the welfare of residents of long-term care facilities.
People in these facilities are residents; meaning, this is their home.
Facilities are required to inform residents of their rights verbally and in writing and the ombudsman contact information must be posted.
Residents’ Rights (RCW 70.129.020):
The resident has a right to a dignified existence, self-determination, and communication with and access to persons and services inside and outside the facility. A facility must protect and promote the rights of each resident and assist the resident, which include:
(1) The resident has the right to exercise his or her rights as a resident of the facility and as a citizen or resident of the United States and the state of Washington.
(2) The resident has the right to be free of interference, coercion, discrimination, and reprisal from the facility in exercising his or her rights.
(3) In the case of a resident adjudged incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction, the rights of the resident are exercised by the person appointed to act on the resident’s behalf.
(4) In the case of a resident who has not been adjudged incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction, a representative may exercise the resident’s rights to the extent provided by law.
Violations may include:
• Residents being told when they have to take their meals, wake up, go to bed, come and go, who can visit, etc.
• Denial of the resident’s choice of person(s) being present during meetings with the facility.
• Verbal, physical, mental abuse, deprivation of services.
• Improper discharge or transfer from facility.
• Denial of access to personal, medical and financial records.
• Denial of access to personal physician.
ANYONE can report.
If you have any concerns about a resident in local facilities or if you are interested in becoming a volunteer ombudsman, please contact Amber Garrotte, the Regional Long-Term Care Ombudsman for Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, at 360-533-8877 or 800-801-0060.
Also check out: http://www.waombudsman.org/
To find out if you are eligible for Northwest Justice Project services:
For cases including youth (Individualized Education Program and school discipline issues), debt collection cases and tenant evictions, please call for a local intake appointment at 360-533-2282 or toll free 866-402-5293. No walk-ins, please.
For all other legal issues, please call our toll-free intake and referral hotline commonly known as “CLEAR” (Coordinated Legal Education Advice and Referral) at 888-201-1014, Mondays through Fridays 9:10 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. If you are a senior, 60 and over, please call 888-387-7111; you may be eligible regardless of income. Language interpreters are available. You can also complete an application for services at nwjustice.org/get-legal-help. Be sure to also check out our law library at: www.washingtonlawhelp.org.
