The Ombudsman or designees shall have access to any resident’s records with the written authorization of the resident or the resident’s legal guardian. If the resident has no legal guardian and is unable to consent, the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman may subpoena the resident’s records for the purpose of complaint investigation and resolution.
(2)
The Ombudsman and designee shall have access to long-term care facility records that relate to an investigation. Such records include:
(a)
Incident reports;
(b)
Staff plans;
(c)
Survey inspection reports;
(d)
Time Cards;
(e)
Facility licenses;
(f)
Staff licenses; and
(g)
Employee schedules.
(3)
When the Ombudsman or designee is investigating a complaint and is refused access to records authorized by this rule, the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman may issue a subpoena which requires a person to appear to give testimony or to produce documents. If a person fails to comply with the subpoena, the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman may request a court to take appropriate action.