The mission of the Board on Aging and Long Term Care is to advocate for our clients' interests, to inform consumers of their rights and to educate the public at large about health care systems and long term care.

Description:
The Volunteer Ombudsman component of our agency is where we are looking for volunteers throughout Wood County. Volunteers spend 2-3 hours weekly visiting an assigned nursing home. The Volunteer Ombudsman act as advocates for the residents and the "eyes and ears" of the Regional Ombudsman. Volunteers are provide training and ongoing skill enhancement. Potential volunteers must submit to a criminal background check.

History:
The Board on Aging and Long Term Care was created by the Legislature in 1981 (Act 20, laws of 1981). The Board and its associated programs exist to advise the Governor and Legislature on long-term care policy and to directly work to protect the interests of Wisconsin citizens aged 60 or over.

When it was created, the Board assumed the functions of the former Governor’s Nursing Home Ombudsman Program which had been in existence for more than a decade. Services were quickly expanded to assist residents in group homes (CBRFs) and recipients of services funded by the Community Options Program (COP) in addition to nursing home residents. Over the years, the program has assumed responsibility for residents of Adult Family Homes and Family Care participants. Most recently, Ombudsmen's authority has been extended to tenants of Residential Care Apartment Complexes (RCACs). The original Long Term Care Ombudsman Program had only a handful of regional staff. Today, there are fourteen regional Ombudsmen, trained and managed by a dedicated Program Supervisor and supported by an Intake Specialist.

In 1984 the Board was asked to become the new home for an insurance counseling service called the Medigap Helpline. The program had previously been operated by the Center for Public Representation, a private, non-profit agency in Madison. The Medigap Helpline offers expert advice and counsel to consumers holding or seeking almost every type of insurance product that might be marketed to Medicare beneficiaries. The growing number of Medicare beneficiaries and the changes to the Medicare system have required a dramatic increase in the number of staff over the years as well as an expansion in the counselors' knowledge of the different forms of Medicare-related coverage. Currently, the program has five full-time counselors and one Intake Specialist.

In 1994 the Volunteer Ombudsman Program (VOP) was established to supplement the services provided by the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The VOP currently operates in 26 counties (click to view area map), and consists of hundreds of well trained Volunteer Ombudsmen, each of whom makes unannounced weekly visits to an assigned nursing home. In addition, the program has five highly skilled Volunteer Coordinators, each Coordinator managing a multiple county region, and a dedicated Volunteer Services Supervisor who directs the entire program. The VOP acts as the "eyes and ears" of the Ombudsman Program in skilled nursing facilities; empowering residents, listening to residents and being a voice for the residents we serve.

Contact people:

Suzanne Ankenbrandt, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email) Kellie Miller, Supervisor, (phone), (email)

Address:

5424 US Hwy 10 East Suite F Stevens Point, WI 54482 (See a map)

Web Site: http://longtermcare.wi.gov/

Last updated on January 20, 2012