Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County

Complaint investigation and facility monitoring: state certified ombudsmen monitor facilities for quality of care, quality of life and violation of residents' rights. In 2022-2023 fiscal years, the following facilities were included in its jurisdiction: 16 nursing homes with 1,670 beds237 residential care facilities for the elderly with 5,367 beds, 33 intermediate care facilities with 198 beds25 adult day health care programs with 1,329 clients116 adult residential facilities for the developmentally disabled with 669 clients5 social rehab facilities with 66 clients (continued)total of 431 facilities with 9,299 clients. Ombudsmen made a total of 4,649 visits to the facilities and investigated and closed 1,080 cases encompassing 1,184 complaints.

Community education and advocacy: Ombudsman Services contribute to the overall health literacy of residents in San Mateo County through its educational outreach. In fy 2022-2023 we accomplished the following:- held 53 community education events educating the general public on long-term care, the role of the Ombudsman and other related issues. - provided individual consultation to 490 people seeking information on our Services or other aging issues - conducted 3 in-service educational events for facility staff and provided 175 consultation hours to staff members.

Recruitment and training: the program provides training to volunteers to obtain and maintain state certification. The training program includes 36 hours of classroom training followed by an internship period of approximately 10 days due to the covid virus. During the internship, the student ombudsmen are provided with hands-on guidance on how to monitor facilities; accept, investigate, and document their findings. In addition, we provide 2 hours of on-going training for all ombudsmen each month. During fy 2022-2023 we trained and certified 6 new ombudsmen who actively joined our team in the field, bringing the number up to 33 volunteer field ombudsmen active in the program. During the year, 33 state-certified ombudsmen provided a (continued) total of 4,039 volunteer hours over the one-year period, valued at about $114,954. In addition, we provided 12 two-hour training sessions throughout the year to all ombudsmen who must attend 18 hours of ongoing training each year to maintain state certification.