Kentucky and Washington State LTC Ombudsmen Work Together on COVID-19

March 13, 2020

Kentucky State Ombudsman, Sherry Culp, is quoted in the Lexington Herald Leader, discussing the impact of COVID-19 in her state. Sherry has worked with the department since 1996 and although they have not been through anything like this before, she credits the guidance given to her by longtime mentor, Patricia Hunter, Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Patricia advised Culp to ask each of Kentucky’s long-term care facilities to provide lists of residents, their phone numbers, and contact information for each of their families and vice versa in case there’s a time in the future when in-person visits are restricted.

“The hope is there won’t be restrictions for a long period of time,” Culp said. Protecting the health of residents takes precedence, but it’s also important to understand “the worry of folks who normally visit all the time and are really a part of their loved one’s lives,” and how “distressing” it will be for families to have that taken away.