Governor Stein Proclaims Long-Term Care Residents Rights Month

Long-Term Care Residents Rights Month

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, people, groups, and long-term care facilities across the country will be celebrating residents’ rights month with the theme “Stand with Me,” which emphasizes the importance of solidarity and support for residents who advocate for their rights, encouraging the community to join them in sharing their voices. It highlights the value of residents having the right to self-determination and making their own choices, and

Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation to protect the rights of residents in nursing homes through the Patients’ Bill of Rights and those in adult care homes through the Residents’ Bill of Rights; and

Whereas, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program was created under the Federal Older Americans Act and by the General Assembly to ensure residents in facilities are afforded the same considerations and opportunities to exercise their basic freedoms that people in the community often take for granted; and

Whereas, a concerned individual can be an effective advocate for a single resident, and the work of more than 400 volunteer Community Advisory Committee members, appointed by local boards of county commissioners, is making a significant difference in the lives of residents statewide; and

Whereas, approximately 49,119 individuals are living in nursing homes, and 31,840 individuals are living in adult care facilities in North Carolina; residents should be informed of their rights so they may be empowered to live with dignity and self-determination;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 2025 as “Long-Term Care Residents Rights Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-third day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.