January 2025

What’s New?

Consumer Center

Visit the Consumer Center on the newly redesigned Consumer Voice website. The Consumer Center is a hub for individuals receiving long-term care and their families to easily find resources and get help.  Get tips for finding long-term care, filing a complaint, getting quality care, learning about common long-term care issues, and discover how you can get involved and become an advocate.  Plus, find resources devoted to resident councils and family councils, hear the voices of long-term care consumers, and share your own story. Visit theconsumervoice.org/consumer-center.

Article on nursing home staffing rule

Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech interviewed Kentucky State LTC Ombudsman Sherry Culp for The Hill article Trump, GOP expected to undo Biden’s divisive nursing home rule published in December.  You can read the article on The Hill website.

Learning Opportunities

Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program staff and volunteers attended a seminar on serving LGBTQIA+ Residents. For more information about working with LGBTQIA+ Residents or to request a presentation contact Assistant State LTC Ombudsman Jodi Holsclaw.

Webinar Series on Protecting Older Adults from Financial Exploitation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) Office for Older Americans is offering a webinar series on protecting older adults from financial exploitation. CFPB’s early 2025 Elder Justice Webinars on protecting older adults from financial exploitation series includes:

Cognitive Decline and Elder Financial Exploitation in Older Age – Wednesday, February 12, 2:00 – 3:30 Eastern

Social Isolation and Financial Exploitation in Older Age – Wednesday, March 5, 2:00 – 3:30 Eastern

Government Imposter Scams and Older Adults – Thursday, March 6, 2:00 – 3:30 Eastern

Solar Financing and Consumer Protection for Older Adults – Tuesday, April 15, 3:00 – 4:00 Eastern

Reverse Mortgages, Home Equity Investment Products, and Consumer Protection for Older Adults – Thursday, May 15, 3:00 – 4:00 Eastern

Register for the series here.

Mandy Weston

Mandy Weston is the Lake Cumberland District LTC Ombudsman. She started with the program in November of 2010. Mandy is a graduate of Western Kentucky University.

When asked why she has dedicated her career to LTC Ombudsman work Mandy says, “I love people and the feeling you get when you are able to help improve someone’s quality of life.”

Mandy enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors and crafting.

Mandy covers Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Green, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell, Taylor, and Wayne counties and can be reach at [email protected]

Mark Burress

Mark has been with the Office of State LTC Ombudsman since 2014. He is the Resident Advocacy Manager.

Mark completed a Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Kentucky. While working on his degree he volunteered at The Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass.

“I was inspired to return to school as a nontraditional student by my grandmother’s journey through long-term care. She was in a nursing facility and family visited everyday. I knew though that many residents didn’t get regular visitors. I also knew that the oversight of care by my diligent family was not something all residents had. I wondered how I could be part of the solution so I went back to school.” said Mark.

Mark has provided care to both of his parents. Mark shares, “Being a caregiver I have gained experience that informs my conversations with people who contact us for help. It is rewarding to equip consumers with knowledge and steps to advocate for residents. I can hear the relief in the consumer’s voice.”

Mark stays busy with work and caregiving duties. He lived in England as a child and says he enjoys watching British TV mysteries to relax.

You can contact Mark by email at [email protected] or [email protected]

Thank you to our staff and volunteers. You make a difference!

“At a nursing home northeast of Nashville, across from a corfield in a rural stretch of middle Tennessee, Melinda Lunday walks by a resident’s room. A man in a wheelchair at the doorway is watching television as he struggles with a heavy cough. In a raspy voice, he tells her he needs more medical help and is ready to throw punches over the matter.

‘I quit telling my nurse anything. It doesn’t do no good,’ he says, spitting into a trash can. He taps his hand to his chest. ‘It just feels like a sharp knife. Right here, I’m hurting right here,’ he says.”

AARP featured Tennessee Volunteer Ombudsman Melinda Lunday in their January/February publication. Click the image above to read the whole story.

What’s an Ombudsman?

Ombudsmen advocate for residents of long-term care facilities at no charge to residents or families.

Long-Term Care Ombudsmen

• Regularly make unannounced visits to long-term care facilities to visit residents.
• Protect the special legal rights of residents.
• Identify, investigate, and resolve residents’ problems and concerns.
• Empower residents to make informed choices.
• Work to monitor laws/policies to protect residents.

Long-term care ombudsmen serve residents in all counties in Kentucky. Visit our website!

The Kentucky State LTC Ombudsman Program is housed within the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass.

The KLTCOP is funded in part by state and federal funding provided by the Department for Aging and Independent Living.

Our Contact Information
Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass
3138 Custer Drive
Suite 110
Lexington, KY 40517
8592779215
http://www.ombuddy.org

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