Help for Mom? Call the ombudsman

Whom do you call when a loved one has problems at an adult day care, nursing home, or long-term care facility?

The ombudsman - a Swedish word for a person who investigates the powers-that-be on behalf of the little people. Ombudsmen are federally mandated in every state.

What does an ombudsman do? We asked Lynn Fields Harris, longtime director of Center in the Park, a senior-advocacy group in Germantown. She experienced firsthand such issues when she struggled with them for her father in 2012.

"My father was very ill, and I was attending all the care-plan and other meetings. But the situation wasn't resolved. I came back to the office, and a staff member said, 'Call the ombudsman in Montgomery County.' They did a great job," she said. "I didn't realize there was someone to call if there were problems."

In 2013, Center in the Park took over one of two city contracts, administered by Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, to serve as ombudsman for long-term care facilities. For residents of facilities in South, West, or North Philadelphia, the agency to call is the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly (CARIE). In Northeast or Northwest Philadelphia, the agency to call is Center in the Park.

In fiscal year 2015, ended June 30, CIP made 682 visits to long-term care facilities, visiting 616 individuals with information and consultation from an ombudsman. The number of cases opened and resolved on behalf of residents totaled 131. Center in the Park is responsible for 9,000 beds at more than 400 facilities.

October is Residents Rights Month for those who live in long-term care facilities. The National Consumer Advocate for Quality Long-Term Care maintains a list of those rights, including the right to the local ombudsman's name and phone number; to medical records, and your own health-care plan with doctors and medical staff; to refuse restraints or medication; to receive visitors; to confidentiality in financial matters; to notice of transfer or discharge and to appeal.

A full list of rights is available at theconsumervoice.org, as is a state-by-state "Locate an Ombudsman" feature (click on "Get Help" near the top of the page).

Often, residents in long-term care facilities are unable to be advocates for themselves. Here are some tips on when to call an ombudsman:

To prevent a discharge. For an ombudsman to help, you or your relative must still be living in the long-term care facility, even if it is trying to compel discharge. Once you leave, it's too late.

"A lot of times, we get calls from people who need help, they're about to be discharged, and they don't want to leave, and the facility will say there's no Medicaid to pay for them to stay," said Erika Barber, a trained ombudsman with Center in the Park. "That's usually not true. Whatever you do, don't leave the facility. Otherwise, we can't help. If you're in a facility and still a resident, speak to the ombudsman first, and we'll do what we can."

To prevent reprisals. Some residents and their families fear reprisals if they call an ombudsman with a complaint. They should still call, Harris said.

"Center in the Park makes regular visits anyway, and if we get a call, even anonymously, we never single out a particular resident," she said. Instead, an ombudsman speaks with groups of residents during the visits and will not identify who called with the complaint.

Cases of abuse are sent to adult protective services, Harris added. "Financial and physical abuse does happen, and residents know they're not supposed to be abused. Normally, residents or their family call if there's an incident, and they should notify the state."

To ease bankruptcy concerns. Facilities can go out of business or file for bankruptcy, and in that case, Center in the Park and CARIE are notified by the state.

"We increase our visible presence at the facility. In a bankruptcy, we make sure it doesn't impact residents' care," Harris said. "Many of them worry where they're going to go."

CIP trains volunteers to work as ombudsmen; call 215-844-1829. Residents, too, can serve as ombudsmen of sorts.

"We have a program called PEER, which empowers residents to go to their friends and investigate complaints, and then alert us," Barber says.

earvedlund@phillynews.com

215-854-2808@erinarvedlund