WHC Branch Program Meeting
Saturday, February 19 at 9:30 a.m.
Tracy Gee Community Center and Zoom
On January 1, 2022, Texas HB 3961 became law. What is HB 3961? It’s the requirement that information regarding the Texas Office of the State Long-term Care Ombudsman program be posted on the websites of long-term care facilities in the state of Texas.
What is the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program?
Under the federal Older Americans Act (OAA) every state is required to have an Ombudsman Program that addresses complaints and advocates for improvements in the long-term care system. Each state has an Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman (Office), headed by a full-time State Long-Term Care Ombudsman (Ombudsman) who directs the program statewide. Across the nation, staff and thousands of volunteers are designated by State Ombudsmen as representatives to directly serve residents. In brief, the Ombudsman program advocates for residents of nursing homes, board, and care homes, assisted living facilities, and other similar adult care facilities. State Ombudsmen and their designated representatives work to resolve problems individual residents face and effect change at the local, state, and national levels to improve quality of care.
Our speaker, Mr. Greg Shelley, Managing Local Ombudsman, Harris County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at Cizik School of Nursing at UT Health Science Center at Houston, will present information on this important program that ensures the rights of senior citizens at long-term care facilities all around Texas are upheld and respected.
Greg has over twelve years of service with the ombudsman program, contributing as a volunteer initially and serving six years as the volunteer coordinator and staff ombudsman for Harris County. During his time as an ombudsman, he has enjoyed getting to know thousands of individuals, while learning about their journeys, educating them about rights and options, and helping them resolve a wide range of issues related to long-term care. He also provides nursing home and assisted living staff in-service training in Harris County.
Lilian Care, Program Vice President
Legacy Circle
Ever since working on 5 Star Recognition for our branch last year, I have been very curious as to what was involved regarding becoming a Legacy Circle contributor. Legacy Circle has come up again in the next generation of 5 Star. My quest was to find the easiest way to set up a Legacy Circle bequest and then encourage other branch members to look into doing the same thing. Legacy Circle funds promote equity and benefit women and girls in the future.
My first step was to check out AAUW National’s website and then contact a representative of Legacy Circle. I did not want to set up a trust, change my will, or affect any other retirement programs I already had in place. I found out all I had to do was set up a savings account at my bank naming AAUW as the Paid-on Death (POD) beneficiary. You don’t need to open the account with thousands of dollars, a few hundred will do! Most banks want a minimum of $200.00 to open an account. Then, over time, you can add funds as you wish. Even after setting up the account, if you need to withdraw any money in the future, you can do that! Not my intention, but good to know I have that flexibility. Once you have opened the account, you fill out a simple form called Legacy Circle Enrollment Form and forward it to AAUW National. That form can be found on the national website. AAUW Leave a Legacy
If anyone would like to know more, feel free to contact me. I want to encourage other WHC members to participate in Legacy Circle now and in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Rose Ennis
President, WHC
Member News Notification
Please send Becky French (bfrench1@flash.net), Corresponding Secretary, any news about our members they give you permission to share.
This year we are sending digital birthday cards to all members for whom we have dates, so if you’ve had a birthday since mid-July, please check your email inbox for a card. We hope you enjoy them.
Becky French
Corresponding Secretary
To insure that you do not miss any communications from the Branch, please send updates or corrections to your contact information to Mary Andersen
@ AAUW.Mary.Andersen@gmail.com