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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Want to make a
difference in a long-term care resident's life? If you answered yes then
the West Virgina Long Term Care Ombudsman Program provides such an
opportunity.
What does the Volunteer Ombudsman
do?
* Works to empower residents and their families to
help them feel more comfortable and skillful in representing themselves if
they have concerns over conditons in the nursing or assisted living home in
which they reside.
* Advocates on behalf of residents who are not
able or comfortable representing themselves.
* Monitors the long-term care home they are
assigned and makes appropriate recommendations for improvements.
What kind of time
commitment do you need to make?
After an initial state required 25 hour
training period you are asked to donate about 4 hours a month visiting the
nursing or assisted living home(s) you are assigned. (The home you
are assigned will be one close to your own home.)
What is the Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Program?
We are a federal and state mandated program whose
mission statement reads: "The mission of the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is
to enhance the quality of life, improve the level of care, protect the
individual rights and promote the dignity of each senior citizen and/or disabled
person of any age housed in a long-term care facility." We have 9 paid
regional ombudsman housed in offices around the state, an attorney who is housed
in Morgantown and the director whose office is in Charleston. We are
employees of Legal Aid of West Virignia, funded by the Bureau of Senior Services
with state and federal dollars.
I am interested in learning more.
What should I do?
Call Roy Herzbach, Ombudsman Director, at
1-800-834-0598 ext. 35 or send an e-mail to herzbach@lawv.net.
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