Can Your Parent Lvicted Be Kicked Out of a Nursing Home? It can be a real shock when a nursing home notifies you that it is evicting your loved one. People are often admitted to nursing homes to recuperate after a hospital stay, and typically have up to 100 days of rehabili- tative services covered by Medicare. If a person needs to stay in a nursing home for long term care after their rehabilitation days have run out, their Medicare coverage will end and they will need to switch to another payment source, such as Medi-Cal Can your parent be kicked out of a nursing home? Federal and California laws provide strong protections against evictions of nursing home residents. Residents have very specific rights that are intended to prevent inappropriate, unnecessary and untimely transfers and discharges. Beware of nursing homes that market as "short term stay" or "rehab centers" or spreads the fiction that they have limited or no "long term care beds" (i.e. Medi-Cal beds), and then aggressively discharge residents denying them care when they have nowhere else to turn once their Medicare-funded days are over. Involuntary discharges rank among the top complaints in most states, according to the National Consumer Voice survey Every county, including Kern, has a program to protect residents in nursing homes from wrongful discharg- es. It's called the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. But it can't survive without volunteers. The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program of Kern County protects the rights of residents of nursing homes and responds to allegations of abuse or neglect. The program also provides consumer information on literature and prevents in- appropriate transfers and evictions. What does an Ombudsman do? Ombudsman visit local nursing homes and check in on elderly residents to ensure quality of life and advocate for them. Becoming a volunteer Ombudsman is a highly efficient way to make sure some of our most vulnerable members have a voice. Regular visits by volunteer Ombudsman also keep nursing homes to a high standard of care and cleanliness. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer Ombudsman with the Kern County Long Term Care Ombuds man Program a FREE orientation class will be held on August 21, 2018 at 1:30pm at the Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance offices, 615 California Ave., Bakersfield, 93304 to answer questions and detail the requirements to becoming an Ombudsman volunteer. Please RSVP by calling 661-323-7884