Outstanding Achievement Award

D.C. Long-Term Care Ombudsman

Charles Marquardt, long-term care ombudsman, was honored September 11^th, 2002 for his advocacy on behalf of two nursing home residents who suffered from such poor care that their families sued and negotiated settlements against the nursing home. The evidence gathered by Mr. Marquardt in his investigations of the care these residents were receiving was instrumental in the success of the families’ lawsuits. In both of these cases, the residents suffered from severe dehydration and malnutrition even though they had gastrostomy feeding tubes and were entirely dependent upon staff to provide adequate fluid and nutrition intake. In addition, both residents developed necrotic bedsores, which necessitated hospitalization and/or surgical debridement. Although Mr. Marquardt attempted to resolve the problems of inadequate care by bringing them to the attention of the administrative staff of the nursing home and to the proper authorities, none of these entities addressed the problem or assisted the families. Because of Mr. Marquardt’s hard work and tireless commitment to these residents to attain full complaint resolution, the family of one resident and a witness for the family of the other resident made substantial contributions to the Ombudsman Program to provide equipment and resources for the ombudsmen to more efficiently advocate for all nursing home residents in the District of Columbia.

Charles Marquardt, local long-term care ombudsman, works out of his United Planning Organization office that is subgranted through the D.C. Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, which is supported and sponsored by Legal Counsel for the Elderly and the D.C. Office on Aging.