The New York State Office for the Aging has received more than 5,000 complaints about long-term care facilities in only nine months, CBS affiliate WRGB reported April 6.
The complaints, filed between October 2021 and June 2022, mostly focus on the care and rights of residents in long-term care facilities, Bill Ferris, New York state AARP legislative representative, told WRGB. He said the complaints cover half of the facilities being visited, adding, "Is this the tip of the iceberg? The fear is we don't know."
Despite the complaints, the federal oversight program Ombudsman tasked with advocating for residents remains understaffed and underfunded, according to the report.
The Long-term Care Ombudsman Program is mostly composed of volunteers who are federally required to visit facilities weekly. Over a three-month period in 2022, more than half of New York nursing homes were not seen by their representatives, according to the report.