(a) The State Ombudsman and representatives of the office shall have:

(1) Access to long-term care facilities and residents;

(2) Appropriate access to review the medical and social records of a resident, if (A) the representative of the office has the permission of the resident, or the legal representative of the resident, (B) the resident is unable to consent to the review and has no legal representative, or (C) access to the records is necessary to investigate a complaint and a resident representative refuses to give permission, a representative of the office has reasonable cause to believe that the resident representative is not acting in the best interests of the resident, and the representative of the office obtains the approval of the ombudsman;

(3) Access to the administrative records, policies and documents, to which the residents have, or the general public has access, of long-term care facilities; and

(4) Access to and, on request, copies of all licensing and certification records maintained by the state with respect to long-term care facilities.

(b) Any person or entity who wilfully interferes with representatives of the office in the performance of the official duties of the representatives of the office, or any long-term care facility or other entity which retaliates or exacts reprisals with respect to any resident, employee or other person for filing a complaint with, providing information to, or otherwise cooperating with any representative of the office, or long-term care facility which refuses to permit the State Ombudsman or any regional ombudsman or any residents' advocate entry into such facility or refuses to cooperate with the State Ombudsman, or any regional ombudsman or any residents' advocate in the carrying out of their mandated duties and responsibilities enumerated under sections 17a-405 to 17a-417, inclusive, 19a-531 and 19a-532 or refuses to permit residents or staff to communicate freely with the State Ombudsman or any regional ombudsman or any residents' advocate shall be subject to the penalty prescribed for a class B violation under section 19a-527.

(c) In carrying out the duties enumerated in sections 17a-405 to 17a-417, inclusive, 19a-531 and 19a-532, the State Ombudsman, the regional ombudsmen and the residents' advocates shall have access to all relevant public records, except that records which are confidential to a resident shall only be divulged with the written consent of the resident.

(d) In the performance of the duties and responsibilities enumerated under sections 17a-405 to 17a-417, inclusive, 19a-531 and 19a-532, the State Ombudsman, the regional ombudsmen and the residents' advocates may utilize any other state department, agency or commission, or any other public or private agencies, groups or individuals who are appropriate and who may be available.

(P.A. 77-575, S. 17, 23; P.A. 87-166, S. 4; P.A. 99-176, S. 11, 24; P.A. 18-6, S. 7.)

History: P.A. 87-166 made violations under Subsec. (a) subject to penalty prescribed for class B, rather than class D violations under Sec. 19a-527; Sec. 17-135k transferred to Sec. 17a-415 in 1991; Sec. 17a-415 transferred to Sec. 17b-410 in 1995; P.A. 99-176 substituted “resident” for “patient”, deleted reference to sections 19a-523, 19a-524, 19a-530 and 19a-554, inserted new Subsec. (a) re ombudsman and representatives' access to records, facilities and residents, redesignated former Subsec. (a) as Subsec. (b) and added provision re any person or entity who wilfully interferes with representatives of the office in the performance of official duties, or retaliations or reprisals by long-term care facilities, and redesignated former Subsecs. (b) and (c) as (c) and (d), respectively, effective July 1, 1999; Sec. 17b-410 transferred to Sec. 17a-415 in 2015; P.A. 18-6 replaced references to legal guardian with references to resident representative, and made technical changes, effective May 14, 2018.