Advocates for people over
the age of 50 are saying that New York State is failing to protect our most
vulnerable in long-term care facilities.
In a recently released letter, AARP says under the Federal Older Americans Act,
every state is required to operate what's called the "Long Term Care
Ombudsman Program."
The program is supposed to
addresses complaints and advocate for improvements in the long-term care system.
But, AARP says many nursing
homes throughout the state were never visited the first quarter of this year.
And the Hudson Valley was
among the most neglected by the program. They say that 78.57% of the 127
facilities in Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties did not receive an ombudsman visit at all from January
2022 to March 2022
AARP
is now calling on state officials to invest more in the program in next year's
budget.
For more information, click
here.