Ombudsman

An advocate for nursing home residents. The federal government requires every state to have an ombudsman program. In Illinois, the ombudsmen work for more than a dozen local governmental and private agencies. The quality of the programs, staffing levels and staff turnover vary. Some programs supplement federal and state funding and hire additional staff; others, including some of the programs covering the largest geographical areas, have the fewest staff and are ridiculously overworked. Some face local political pressure that keep them from being strong resident advocates.