You or a loved one relies on a nursing home or assisted living facility for care. Where can you turn if you have concerns about the quality of care or questions about your rights?
One option is Utah’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman’s Office, an agency within the Utah Department of Health and Human Services that advocates on behalf of residents in these facilities.
As the FOX 13 Investigates team reports on gaps in Utah’s elder care systems, we sat down with Alianne Sipes, the program manager for Utah’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, to talk about what the office does and how it can help older adults in long-term care.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: For people who aren’t familiar, can you talk about what your office is? What do you do, and how can you help people in long-term care facilities?
A: Ombudsman is a generic term. And it basically means ‘advocate.’ So specifically, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, we are advocates for individuals living in long-term care facilities. And in Utah, that includes both licensed nursing homes and assisted living facilities. That can also include skilled rehab facilities and memory care, secure memory care facilities.
Q: What does it mean to be an ‘advocate’ for residents? What kind of issues do you see pop up?
A: We’re like a mediator. If anyone has concerns with the way residents are being cared for in these facilities, they can come to us, sort of as a third-party individual that can brainstorm solutions.
We see a wide variety of issues. Anywhere from, you know, ‘The facility would like me to or says I have to take a shower in the morning. But for my whole life I liked to take showers in the evening but they’re saying I can’t.’ To more complicated cases or situations, such as ‘My children don’t like each other and they’re saying that I can’t see my son but I want to continue to see my son.’ Or, ‘I’m starting to lose cognition; I don’t have anyone to make decisions for me.’
We see financial exploitation. We can help with really any aspect that’s important to the residents. A resident wants to be able to go out into the community to volunteer, the facility is saying no. We can help brainstorm solutions to make that happen.
Q: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I see the Ombudsman’s Office as a place where people can also get connected to other services they might need help from, like Adult Protective Services or the Office of Licensing. Is that right?
A: We’re not regulatory, so we can’t hold facilities accountable for whether or not they follow regulations. But we do have the resources to be able to educate the resident and family about ‘These are your options. You can report to Adult Protective Services if it’s a concern about neglect, abuse or exploitation. You can make a referral to the Office of Licensing if you feel like the facility’s not operating according to regulations.’
We have connections in a lot of state agencies, such as Medicaid Fraud or the Office of Public Guardian. So we can help the resident and the family navigate what their options are so that they can make a more informed decision.
Q: The Ombudsman’s Office doesn't charge residents for services, right?
A: Yeah, all of our services are completely free, confidential. By law, we cannot divulge resident-identifying information without resident consent. We also cannot divulge complainant identifying information without the complainant’s consent. So somebody can call us and say, ‘I have a concern about my mom, but I don’t want mom to know that it was me that called you.’ Great. We’re going to go and talk to mom and see what her opinion is. But we won’t say that, ‘Hey, we’ve got a call from the daughter.’ And yes, it’s all free of charge.
Q: It might be helpful for people to understand that you have other ombudsman that work throughout the state. It’s not just one ombudsman. There’s a team of people and you also have volunteer ombudsman, right?
A: Right. I’m the program manager at the state level. We have 11 local programs that are housed within the local Area Agencies on Aging. For example, Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services houses a local long-term care ombudsman program. Every county in the state is connected with one of these local ombudsman programs. And they are the boots on the ground who will visit facilities, address issues as they come up. We have about 25 staff ombudsman and right now 25 volunteer ombudsman who do the same work but in a volunteer capacity as well. And then they all report to me at the state level.
Read more from FOX 13’s ongoing coverage of Utah’s long-term care industry here: · Utah's Adult Protective Services is substantiating few cases of elder abuse · What you should know before choosing a nursing home · Older adults are wandering away from Utah care facilities, sometimes with tragic outcomes · Critics say taxpayer dollars for nursing homes should be spent on care, not new buildings · Nursing homes receiving millions in extra taxpayer funds face allegations of poor patient care
Q: Why do you think it’s important for people to be aware of issues affecting older adults who rely on care from long-term care facilities, even if they maybe don’t have a family member in that circumstance?
A: You will. Chances are if we don’t have a member, a close family or friend who’s currently in a facility, chances are you will eventually. Or you yourself will find yourself in one of these facilities. It’s in our best interest to improve the experience that residents have in these facilities, because this is our future. Our state is aging. We have — some refer to it as the Silver Tsunami. It’s coming. It’s already almost here, and it’s better to be proactive than reactive. So we need to have more conversations about the experiences and what’s happening in these long-term care facilities.
Q: How can people get in touch with you if they feel like they need help in a facility?
A: We have a website, which is ltco.utah.gov. It stands for Long-Term Care Ombudsman dot Utah dot gov. On there, there is a location finder. And if you click on that, you will have the contact information for both myself and your local ombudsman program in whichever county you are in. Every facility also has our local poster displayed in the facility that also has the local phone number you can call.
Q: Is there anything else you want the public to know?
A: I just want the public to know that we are ready and available to discuss concerns. You can call us with a concern, even if you don’t want us to do anything about it, you just want to get some advice or suggestions. If you’re not sure about ‘Is this covered in regulations?’ We know the regulations pretty well, so we’re always available to talk with the public or family members or residents about any concerns that they have. We want every Utah resident to have a safe and secure experience in these facilities, and we look for ways to improve their quality of life.