LETTERS TO FACILITY & FACILITY RESPONSES

Note: The Letters to the Facility, with their associated responses and council replies, are listed below the following explanations.

How the Letters to the Facility Are Written

  • Family council members present concerns in the meetings. The concerns are discussed and sometimes researched. Solutions are proposed and discussed.
  • The members come to consensus on the concerns, requests for information and proposed changes, and decide to include them in the Letter to the Facility.
  • At a following meeting, the family council reviews and approves the Letter.
  • It is finalized and sent to the facility management via our liaison with the facility.

Importance of the Family Council’s Letter to the Facility

    • The Letter to the Facility is the primary tool of the Family Council for communicating with the facility management.
    • In the Letter to the Facility, the family council raises concerns, requests information and speakers, and makes recommendations for solutions.
    • Additionally, the Letter to the Facility documents the work done by the family council to influence the quality of resident care for the better.

Note: Because the residents are patients living in a skilled nursing home facility, the quality of care provided by the facility is a significant factor in the residents’ physical, mental and social health, and in their longevity.

  • The facility is legally required to address all concerns raised regarding the residents’ care in the family council’s Letter to the Facility by sending a Response Letter to the family council within 10 business days of receiving the Letter to the Facility.
  • More importantly, the facility is required to make changes that effectively resolve the concerns and issues raised by the Letter to the Facility.
  • Once the facility makes remedial changes, the family council verifies that the changes have satisfactorily resolved the issues.

Resolution Process for the Issues Raised

  • Some issues are resolved by one round of communication between the family council and the facility.
  • Other issues are resolved by several rounds of communication.
  • If an issue is not satisfactorily resolved, that issue is referred to the California Ombudsman, who takes legal action on behalf of the facility’s residents.

Letters to the Facility and Associated Facility Responses

Dates in the Letters to the Facility and Response Letters

Each Letter to the Facility is identified by the date of the council meeting wherein the letter content was approved, even though the internal date in the letter is a later date.

The corresponding Facility Response is also identified by the date of the council meeting, even though the date of the Response is also a later date.

For each link, the Letter to the Facility is posted first. If there was a Facility Response Letter, it is posted second.

Instructions: Click on any title to view the Letter to the Facility. Then scroll down to view the associated Response Letter.