Introducing Oregon’s Long Term Care Ombudsman, Protecting your rights

Since being appointed as Oregon State’s Long Term Care Ombudsman in 2015, Fred Steele has dedicated his career to the mission of protecting the rights, dignity, and quality of life of Oregonians living in long-term care facilities.

What does your office do? Our staff and volunteers investigate and resolve complaints, advocate for residents, and improve the quality of care. In my program director role, the advocacy and push to improve quality of care includes working with legislators and other decision-makers to enhance the laws in Oregon to maximize the health, safety, rights, and welfare of those living in care settings like nursing homes, assisted living, and memory care.

When should someone call your office? Common issues we address for individuals include medication errors, unexplained billing, concerns with a care plan, evictions, or any threats to a residents’ rights or dignity. Any time a resident, family member, or other concerned individual identifies a potential concern, please reach out to us. Our services are always free and confidential (until permission is given as needed).

How does your office work locally here in Beaverton? There are 18 certified Ombudsman volunteers living in Washington County that serve at local facilities and we are always looking to recruit more volunteers. Ombudsman assistance, whether by a volunteer Ombudsman or a staff Ombudsman, is generally provided in person as much as possible. Volunteers provide their community advocacy to those in care settings through regular on-site visits where they take complaints and investigate, resolve, and follow up. When a client calls, we will ask for a description of the incident or concern, the name of the facility, the name of the resident, and what outcome or resolution is being sought. An Ombudsman’s effort will focus on the direction the resident gives us and on what they want us to do for them.

Note that areas we are not able to assist include matters outside licensed long-term care facilities such as private homes or home care services. We do not provide legal representation, financial advice, or investigate cases of abuse or neglect. For those types of issues, we can refer individuals to the appropriate agency.

A record of success: Our program, and especially our volunteers, have an approximately 90% rate of achieving successful outcomes for residents. This regularly includes, for example, helping residents revise their care plan to ensure they’re receiving the care they need, which at times occurs in an effort to keep the person from having to move to a different care facility when they want to stay in their current care setting. Volunteer Ombudsmen also regularly assist residents in receiving foods that will meet their dietary needs or wishes, or in receiving access to activities that might not be available for a variety of reasons.

Volunteers are needed: The steps to become a volunteer are an application, a phone interview, reference checks, criminal records check, and training. We do extensively train our volunteers over 6 online sessions along with facility visits. No previous experience in the field of long-term care is required, just a willingness to advocate for others.

For information about our volunteer program, call/email Julie Maw at 971-600-6149 or email julie.maw@rights.oregon.gov.

To file a complaint or get more information about our program, call 800-522-2602, email us at ltco.info@rights.oregon.gov or visit oltco.org.