SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) During the COVID-19 pandemic, representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman were denied entry to long-term care facilities, despite explicit authorization to do so, as provided in Section 9722 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In some instances, it was an owner-operator denying entry into a facility where quality of care was substandard, and complaints from residents required entry into the facility for investigative purposes.
(b) An advance health care directive is a legal document that specifies how an individual wants their medical decisions to be made if they are unable to make those decisions. An advance health care directive informs an individual’s health care team and loved ones regarding the kind of health care the individual wants, or who they wish to make health care decisions on their behalf if they cannot. Section 4675 of the Probate Code requires a written advance health care directive for a patient in a skilled nursing facility to be witnessed by a patient advocate or ombudsman in order to be effective; however, ombudsman representatives were not permitted to enter these facilities during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This created a significant problem for facility residents during a time when they had a critical need for the ombudsman’s assistance, especially when residents contracted COVID-19 and experienced complications.
(c) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to reaffirm the unabridged right of representatives of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman to enter long-term care facilities in the performance of their official duties.