Last week, Northampton County Council was slated to receive an update on Gracedale from Himan Services Director Sue Wandalowki. Since the nursing home has been removed from her portfolio, I questioned why she, and not Administrator Michelle Morton, would be talking about the beleaguered nursing home. Wandalowski apparently got the message and deferred at least temporarily to Morton until the subject of finances came up. That's when she interjected herself.
Before I get to that, let's talk about what Morton herself had to say.
The first thing Morton told County Council was that the state DOH had visited the facility that very day all F-tags had been lifted, including those for the latest elopement as well as a belligerent resident who is pocketing prescription drugs. These are issued for deficiencies in compliance with regulations that ensure resident safety.
She then went on to say that though Gracedale will self-report deficiencies when they happen, there have been no substantiated complaints since began her job in March 2025. A review of DOH visits reveal, however, that complaints were, in fact, substantiated on 6/25/25, 10/17/25 and 5/14/26.
She addressed the5/14/26 elopement in which a resident wandered away and had to be returned by police to a home that was unaware he was AWOL.
"I want everyone to know that the elopement for which ... a violation occurred [was] because a resident was taken off campus by another resident family member, who drove that resident to Easton and dropped the resident off. So that's certainly not something that I think anyone would have predicted or anticipated, that someone would take someone else's resident, not even their own family member off site."
Um, that's why you do periodic head counts. That apparently wasn't happening as it should have been. Shouldn't a nursing home be doing this before people start wandering off?
She spoke about the agency nurse who documented that she had administered medications to the AWOL resident: " I do wanna point out what that particular nurse, that was, like, a one time individual.It wasn't a systemic problem of that people, you know, false documenting. It was one nurse who was documenting."
Isn't that why some agency clearinghouse was established so that these nursing journeymen are properly vetted before they are unleashed on unsuspecting residents? Morton noted that this nurse's license has been reported but failed to state whether any background check at all was performed. When pressed on the matter by Council member Jason Boulette, Morton replied, "I'm not gonna go in every detail of the plan of correction. It is available online if you would like to look it up."
She acknowledged that the census, which should be at 520 in order for the nursing home to break even, was down to 470. But in response to questions from Council member Dave Holland, she initially denied that the home is in the red. When he asked her about a financial report from Acting Discal Director Barnadon Dunstane showing that Gracedale was in the red after its first quarter, she at first denied it. "No, that is not true. We are not spending 100% of budget." Then she said that the home has a lot of "Medicaid pending" residents
.That's when Wandalowski, who is supposed to no longer have any responsibnility for Gracedale, came to Morton's rescue. She said that Gracedale has 9 residents receiving one-to-one care, 24/7. "That is a budget buster," said Wandalowski. She did acknowledge that the home is over budget.
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