Chris Fink likes to volunteer. But where some people might build houses or help out in a soup kitchen, once every three months Fink takes a tour of Buncombe County’s nursing homes and long-term adult care facilities as a member of the county’s Community Advisory Committee. Fink visits with residents, helps them to resolve issues and checks to see if bathrooms are clean, medicine carts are locked, and cleaning supplies are put away. He speaks with managers to understand the issues they’re facing and helps them stay in compliance with the law.
Federal law requires that all nursing homes and adult care facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid be officially inspected at least once every 15 months, and North Carolina law requires inspections at least annually. Official inspections are carried out by surveyors from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and full-time regional ombudsman from one of North Carolina’s 16 Area Agencies on Aging.
But it’s the volunteers of the Community Advisory Committees, established in 1977, that are more numerous and have the most regular contact with facilities…