Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman

Are you concerned with how your loved one is being treated in the nursing home? Are you looking for assistance in selecting a nursing home? Are you looking for information on resident rights in the nursing home? If so, the Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman Program is the resource for you.

Ombudsmen are a valuable resource for residents in nursing homes and for their loved ones. An ombudsman works with nursing home residents, family members/loved ones, and nursing home staff to address concerns seen and experienced within the nursing home, advocate for resident rights, and help educate consumers and providers on issues of long term care.

Each Massachusetts city and town is aligned with a social services agency that is home to an area LTC ombudsman.  For example, if you lived in Natick, you would contact Bay Path Elder Services and ask to speak with the LTC ombudsman.

We recommend talking with your local LTC ombudsman to get advice and counsel on problems that your loved one is experiencing within the nursing home.

Ombudsman can help in the following ways:

  1. Receive/identify, investigate, and resolve complaints and concerns of residents and/or their loved ones regarding a nursing home. Resident/complainant identities are kept confidential unless the complainant consents to having his/her identity released, or if abuse/neglect involved is to the point where it needs to be further reported to the police or similar authorities.
  1. Provide information and assistance in selecting a long-term care facility and/or nursing home.
  1. Advocate for quality care and long-term positive change in nursing homes, in general.
  1. Assist Resident and Family Councils.

The ombudsman program does not provide care, certify nursing homes, or act as a regulatory agency for nursing homes.

See Choosing a Nursing Home: 5. Ombudsman Perspectives for additional information.

→ Next: Family and Resident Councils