Oct. 26, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The administrator of Northampton County’s Gracedale nursing home has resigned effective Nov. 14, Bernie O’Hare reports on Lehigh Valley Ramblings. See this link for his story.
The nursing home in Upper Nazareth Township has been a problem for years. Hiring nurses and other staff is a challenge in an area with lots of hospitals and medical offices that can pay more. As the blog notes, the State of Pennsylvania has found fault with Gracedale.
I’ve been somewhat sympathetic toward Gracedale. I have relatives who’ve worked in homes and I know how difficult it can be but this place has to do better.
Yet an Oct. 7 presentation by Gracedale officials to County Council left me concerned about management now and in the future. The link to that session is below.
The Gracedale issue leaves County Executive Tara Zrinski with a few options. Sell Gracedale to a company that will continue to operate it, hire a management firm to run it, try to do better or just close it.
Closing it is probably not an option unless the state forces it. The county did retain a management firm earlier, so that might be done again.
Trying to do better? I’m not real confident. Northampton County has enough problems just balancing its budget. Meanwhile, Gracedale can hold as many as 688 residents. It has about 450, and an increasing number are there for mental problems, not age and infirmity. That presents an even greater challenge to the staff.
A recent presentation to Northampton County Council by Administrator Michele Morton and Thomas Carson, who holds the nebulous title of director of continuum care (I don’t know what it means so don’t ask me) was uninspiring.
Maybe they weren’t just up for a presentation that day, maybe both are good at what they do, but blaming media coverage of Gracedale (almost exclusively from Lehigh Valley Ramblings) for problems at Gracedale is not a valid excuse.
The presentation went poorly. In fact, it was a little scary. Here’s a link to video of the meeting.
