The Legislature hereby finds that in recognition of the different health and health related problems experienced by the various age groups in the general population, numerous health care facilities have been constructed and placed in operation to provide specialized health and health related services to particular such groups; that in providing such services to the elderly it is essential to recognize that while the members of this age group possess the same civil and human rights as members of every other age group, such rights may be far more difficult for certain of the elderly to secure since such persons may be afflicted with physical and mental infirmities, deprived of the comfort and counsel of family and friends, and forced to exist with minimum economic resources, all of which may preclude them from defending and acting in their own best interests; and, that to the degree that certain of the elderly may experience difficulty in securing their civil and human rights as patients, residents and clients of the health care facilities created to serve their specialized needs and problems, it is the obligation of the State to take appropriate action through the creation of an adequate legal framework by which those difficulties may be eliminated.

The Legislature, therefore, declares that it is the public policy of this State to secure for elderly patients, residents and clients of health care facilities serving their specialized needs and problems, the same civil and human rights guaranteed to all citizens; and that to this end there should be established as an agency of the State Government the Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, to receive, investigate and resolve complaints concerning certain health care facilities serving the elderly, and to initiate actions to secure, preserve and promote the health, safety and welfare, and the civil and human rights, of the elderly patients, residents and clients of such facilities.

L.1977, c. 239, s. 1, eff. Sept. 29, 1977.