Kansas State Ombudsman, Camille Russell, is Interviewed on Nursing Home Visitation Changes During COVID-19

July 20, 2021

Camille Russell, Kansas State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, was interviewed by AP News on advocating for resident’s rights and visitation rule changes during COVID-19. Investigating officials are calling the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to limit visitation in homes that are not open due to the Delta variant, believing it will cause new facility lockdowns. Russell said that although the threat of COVID-19 is still very real, residents are experiencing pain and suffering due to isolation. Since May, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman office has received hundreds of complaint calls regarding lack of visitation and resident decline. The fear is that nursing homes are going to shut out visitors if the area shows another wave of COVID-19 cases, and the Ombudsman office is trying to debate against it. 

Read the full article here.