WAC 365-18-060
Duties -- State ombudsman. The state
long-term care ombudsman shall assure performance of the
following duties:
(1) Identify, investigate, and resolve complaints that:
(a) Relate to actions, inactions, or decisions that may
adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of
residents;
(b) Are made by:
(i) A resident, a resident's relatives, friends, or
associates;
(ii) Providers, or representatives of providers, of
long-term care or health care services;
(iii) Public agencies;
(iv) Health and social service agencies; or
(v) Guardians, representative payees, holders of powers of
attorney, or other resident representatives;
(2) In coordination with the appropriate state or local
government agencies, develop referral procedures for all
long-term care ombudsmen to refer complaints when necessary to
any appropriate state or local government agency; such referral
procedures must conform to the appropriate state law for
referring reports of potential abuse, neglect, exploitation or
abandonment and shall contain wherever possible the information
specified in the appropriate state reporting laws and shall not
abridge the confidentiality requirements of this chapter;
(3) Offer and provide services to assist residents and their
representatives in protecting the health, safety, welfare, and
rights of the residents;
(4) Inform the residents, their representatives and others
about resident rights and about the means of obtaining needed
services, and work with the department of social and health
services and long-term care facility administrators to assure
that notices containing the name, address, and telephone number
of the appropriate long-term care ombudsman are posted
prominently in every long-term care facility;
(5) Ensure that residents and their representatives have
regular and timely access to the services provided through the
ombudsman program, and ensure that the residents and complainants
receive timely responses from representatives of the ombudsman
program. Provision shall be made by facilities and the ombudsman
to secure privacy for the purpose of the ombudsman carrying out
his or her duties, including, but not limited to, building
relationships with and providing information to residents;
(6) Represent the interests of residents before governmental
agencies and seek administrative, legal, and other remedies to
protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of the residents;
(7)(a) Analyze, comment on, and monitor the development and
implementation of federal, state, and local laws, regulations,
and other governmental policies and actions, that pertain to the
health, safety, welfare, and rights of the residents, with
respect to long-term care facilities and services in the state;
(b) Recommend changes in laws, regulations, policies, and
actions that will further promote the interests, well-being and
rights of residents;
(c) Provide such information as the state office determines
to be necessary to public and private agencies, legislators, and
other persons, regarding:
(i) The problems and concerns of individuals residing in
long-term care facilities; and
(ii) Recommendations related to these problems and concerns;
and
(d) Facilitate public comment on laws, regulations,
policies, and actions related to residents of long-term care
facilities and the ombudsman program;
(8)(a) Establish procedures for the training and supervision
of prospective regional long-term care ombudsmen, regional
long-term care staff ombudsmen, and certified volunteer
ombudsmen, and ensure that all ombudsmen are educated in the
fields of long-term care and advocacy, including, but not limited
to, conflict resolution, laws that govern long-term care resident
populations, and issues in long-term care facilities pertaining
to residents with mental illness, dementia, developmental and
physical disabilities, and substance abuse problems;
(b) Monitor and provide administrative and policy direction
and technical assistance to the regional long-term care
ombudsmen; and
(c) Coordinate the activities of long-term care ombudsmen
throughout the state;
(9)(a) Promote the development of citizen groups to
participate in the ombudsman program; and
(b) Provide support for the development of resident councils
and family councils to protect the interests, well-being and
rights of residents;
(10) Assure that representative stakeholder advisory
councils are established and maintained for the state and
regional ombudsman programs. All councils should include
representation from a broad spectrum of interests served by the
program, including, but not limited to, mental illness, dementia,
and developmental and physical disabilities. All vacancies to
councils should be filled where possible within six months of the
vacancy;
(11) Coordinate ombudsman services with the protection and
advocacy systems for individuals with developmental disabilities
and mental illness including making appropriate referrals, and
with legal services funded under Title III of the Older Americans
Act, through the development of memoranda of understanding and
other means;
(12) Establish a grievance procedure for the purpose of
providing an appeal process for any individual dissatisfied with
the actions of any ombudsman. The highest level of appeal shall
be the contractor and the contractor's governing board. The
grievance procedure is not intended to supplant any contracting
or subcontracting agency's internally established grievance
procedure for disputes not related to ombudsman duties;
(13) Establish a statewide uniform reporting system to
collect and analyze data relating to complaints and conditions in
long-term care facilities for the purpose of identifying and
resolving significant problems;
(14) Prepare an annual report:
(a) Describing the activities carried out by the ombudsman
program in the prior year;
(b) Evaluating the problems experienced by, and the
complaints made by, or on behalf of, residents;
(c) Containing recommendations for:
(i) Improving quality of the care and life of the residents;
and
(ii) Protecting the health, safety, welfare, and rights of
the residents;
(d)(i) Analyzing the success and needs of the ombudsman
program, including the success or gaps in providing services to
residents of long-term care facilities; and
(ii) Identifying barriers that prevent the optimal operation
of the ombudsman program;
(e) Providing policy, regulatory, and legislative
recommendations to solve identified problems, to resolve the
complaints, to improve the quality of care and life of residents,
to protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents,
and to remove the barriers; and
(f) Make available to the federal Commissioner on Aging, the
governor, the Washington state legislature, the department of
social and health services, the department of health, the
department of community, trade, and economic development, and
other appropriate governmental entities and interested members of
the public, the annual report described in this subsection;
(15) The state long-term care ombudsman may subcontract for
long-term care ombudsman services, including regional long-term
care ombudsman services, throughout the state. The state
long-term care ombudsman has the authority to designate and
certify regional long-term care ombudsmen. The state long-term
care ombudsman has the authority to revoke, when good cause is
shown, the subcontract or the designation and certification of
the individual regional long-term care ombudsman;
(16) The state long-term care ombudsman has the authority to
designate qualified individuals as certified volunteer long-term
care ombudsmen representing the ombudsman program. Such
individuals shall receive a certificate and picture
identification card from the state office signed by the state
long-term care ombudsman. The state long-term care ombudsman has
the authority to revoke, when good cause is shown, this
certification.
(17) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to empower
the state long-term care ombudsman or any other long-term care
ombudsman with statutory or regulatory licensing or sanctioning
authority.
[Statutory Authority: Chapter 43.190 RCW and Older Americans Act
of 1965 (42 U.S.C., 3001 et seq., as amended). 00-09-060, §
365-18-060, filed 4/17/00, effective 5/18/00.]