Nov. 6, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog reports today that Gracedale, Northampton County’s nursing home, has seen its license dropped to Provisional III from Provisional II.
That means the State of Pennsylvania has found problems at the county-owned Upper Nazareth Township facility and Gracedale needs a plan to correct deficiencies.
Blogger Bernie O’Hare also reported on LVR that County Executive Tara Zrinski plans to bring in a consultant to improve operations at Gracedale.
Unfortunately, Zrinski expressed concern during the meeting that O’Hare would get information about Gracedale from council members. That is not the problem; the problem is Gracedale, not coverage of Gracedale.
With Zrinski proposing a 44% tax increase, don’t expect a lot of taxpayer patience with a Gracedale turnaround. The home has about 450 residents now, well short of its 688 potential maximum. Hiring nurses and other staff in an area with two big hospital chains (LVHN and St. Luke’s) has been a problem at the home.
Read it all at this link and here is a link to a video of the County Council meeting Thursday where Zrinski discussed the nursing home’s problems.
