How Does Gracedale Stack Up With Other Lehigh Valley Nursing Homes?

I've spent a lot of time covering the problems at Gracedale over the past several years. This home gets a lot of coverage from me because something always is going on there and it is publicly owned. It also recently attracted the attention of a NorCo Investigating Grand Jury. Is it packed with lies and perjury, as Zrinski asserted just last week? And what about other nursing homes in Northampton and Lehigh County?  Are they even worse, as NorCo Exec Tara Zrinski has suggested during a county council meeting? I've reviewed the Department of Health and ProPublica inspection records for nursing homes in Northampton and Lehigh counties from 2024 to present. They reveal numerous deficiencies since 2024, ranging from relatively minor regulatory violations to findings classified as posing immediate jeopardy to residents’ health or safety. Gracedale is among the worst. 

What is a deficiency? It means inspectors determined that a facility failed to meet a federal or state requirement. The seriousness of those deficiencies, however, varies considerably.

The most significant findings involve deficiencies classified as J, K or L, the highest levels on the federal scope-and-severity scale. Recent federal data identify J-level findings at both Gracedale and Bethlehem South, while Phoebe Allentown had a K-level infection-control finding in 2025.

Gracedale

It appears that the coverage I've given is warranted. It has had more than 20 deficiencies since 2024.

Among the most serious was a J-level finding in May 2026 , which occurred six months after Exec. Zrinski assumed office. It involved a failure to ensure that the nursing-home environment was free of accident hazards and that residents received adequate supervision to prevent accidents. Federal records classified it as immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety, affecting a few residents.

Gracedale also had a serious finding in September 2025 involving resident assessment and care planning. Pennsylvania Department of Health's inspection records document the September 23, 2025 abbreviated survey and resulting deficiencies.

Inspection records also show a K-level staffing finding in May 2026 (5 months after Exec. Zrinski was in office), determining that Gracedale did not provide enough nursing staff every day to meet residents' needs and did not have a licensed nurse in charge on each shift. That finding was classified as immediate jeopardy and resulted in a $21,756 fine. The Pennsylvania Department of Health's inspection database shows that a subsequent abbreviated survey completed August 10, 2026 found no deficient practice related to the particular complaint allegations investigated during that survey. 

Bethlehem South

Bethlehem South Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has accumulated 28 deficiencies in the current federal reporting record.

Its most significant recent finding came from a June 9, 2026 complaint inspection. Inspectors cited the facility at the J level, finding that it failed to protect residents from abuse and neglect. J means immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety. The facility also had two D-level deficiencies in an April 29, 2026 complaint inspection involving pressure-ulcer care and bowel and bladder care. The inspection resulted in a $27,378 fine. Pennsylvania's inspection records subsequently reported that the deficiencies cited in the June 30, 2026 survey had been corrected by the July 17 revisit.

Bethlehem North

Bethlehem North Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center also has a substantial number of deficiencies. A February 2026 standard inspection identified deficiencies involving such areas as nutrition, treatment and care, resident notification, activities of daily living, range of motion and infection control.

A May 2026 complaint investigation also produced an E-level deficiency involving the failure to timely report suspected abuse, neglect or theft.

The pattern illustrates why simply counting deficiencies can be misleading. A facility can accumulate a large number of D- or E-level findings without those findings reaching the immediate-jeopardy level.

Phoebe Allentown

Phoebe Allentown Health Care Center had 13 deficiencies, one of which was particularly serious. An August 19, 2025 complaint inspection produced a K-level infection-control deficiency. Inspectors found that the facility failed to provide and implement an effective infection-prevention and control program. The finding was classified as immediate jeopardy and involved some residents.

A July 2025 standard inspection produced three additional D-level deficiencies involving resident rights, range of motion/mobility and accident hazards or supervision. That inspection also resulted in an $11,087 fine.

Interestingly, Gracedale Administrator Michelle Morton came to NorCo from Phoebe. At last week's County Council meeting, Zrinski stated that she visited that home to pick up a few pointers. Why she'd visit a home with a K-level deficiency is beyond me. 

Cedarbrook

Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehabilitation has accumulated 16 deficiencies in the current federal record. This is Lehigh County's public home. The deficiencies are all minor involving resident rights, assessments, activities of daily living, resident care, accident hazards, dietary equipment, infection control and reporting of suspected abuse or neglect. They've all been corrected. 

Complete Care at Lehigh

Complete Care at Lehigh LLC has 12 deficiencies. They include deficiencies involving food handling and storage, pressure-ulcer care and pharmacy services. Most of its recent deficiencies were classified at the D level — meaning no actual harm was identified but there was potential for more than minimal harm.

Northampton Post Acute

Northampton Post Acute has 15 deficiencies. A May 2026 standard inspection identified four D-level deficiencies, including problems involving resident rights, care planning and accident hazards or supervision. Those deficiencies were documented as corrected during a June 2026 revisit.

Easton Skilled Nursing

Easton Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation has 20 deficiencies. They include repeated issues involving resident care and activities of daily living.

A December 2025 inspection produced nine health deficiencies, most at the D level.

An April 2026 complaint inspection also cited the facility for an infection-control deficiency.

The Gardens at Easton

The Gardens at Easton, including its memory-care operation, has had several deficiencies during the period examined, generally at the lower levels of the severity scale.

What the severity ratings mean

The federal nursing-home inspection system uses a scope-and-severity system that ranges from relatively minor deficiencies to immediate jeopardy.

D, E and F indicate no actual harm was found, although there was potential for more than minimal harm. G, H and I indicate actual harm that did not rise to immediate jeopardy. J, K and L represent immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety.

Consequently, a nursing home with 20 D-level deficiencies should not automatically be considered more problematic than a facility with fewer deficiencies that includes a J- or K-level finding. The nature and seriousness of the deficiencies matter at least as much as the raw number.

What the records do show is that several nursing homes in Northampton and Lehigh counties have experienced recurring regulatory problems since 2024. Gracedale, Bethlehem South and Phoebe Allentown have each had recent deficiencies classified at the immediate-jeopardy level. 

The good news is that Gracedale is making strides to improve. Just last week, Northampton County Council voted to raise the wages for nurse supervisors to a level that is competitive and should attract professionals. Executive Tara Zrinski has stated this is only the beginning of changes to compensation. In six visits from the state Department of Health since May, no deficiencies have been found.  Gracedale Oversight Committee has been established, although it has yet to meet. 

Zrinski Announces that New Parking Deck Construction to Start in October

At last week's NorCo Council meeting, Executive Tara Zrinski announced that work on a new parking deck for the courthouse campus will begin in October. This work was supposed to have started in July, but had to be postponed because the bidder failed to comply with the county's responsible contractor ordinance. 

This is a good time to consider a bus, bicycle or one of those dreaded e-bikes savaged on the season opener of South Park America. 

NorCo Council Increases Salaries for 26 Gracedale Nursing Supervisors

At Thursday night's meeting, Northampton County Council voted 7-0 (Ken Kraft and Tom Giovanni were absent) to increase the salaries of 26 nursing supervisors at Gracedale. The wage increases will go to 9 full-time, 8 part-time and 9 per-diem nursing supervisors. This was recommended in an outside performance audit of Gracedale nursing home back in 2023 and was recommended repeatedly by Council members over the past two years to attract and retain the county workforce and reduce reliance on outside agency nurses. 

Unfortunately, the Council Clerk failed to attach supporting documents to the agenda and thus it is impossible to tell you the exact amount of these increases. The paygrade is set with room for these career service employees to get step increases as they go through annual reviews. According to Executive Tara Zrinski, the wage starts at about $52 an hour. She indicated that previous administrations have been reluctant to give step increases and noted that long-time employees would get the same pay as people who are recently hired.

Council member Jason Boulette noted that his reading of Career Service Regulations and the Employee Policy Manual led him to believe that every career service employee who gets a positive evaluation should get a step increase. "Listen, I just got here," said Zrinski. She noted she could only state the past history, and said the budget does limit what can be done.

Currently, only two of these positions are actually filled by county employees. The rest are vacant. 

Council member Dave Holland asked about other front-line nursing positions and was told that this is just the beginning of the salary review process.  

Elder Abuse Charged at Moravian Hall Sqaure

As many readers of this blog are aware, I have been highly critical of the way that the county administration has responded to problems at Gracedale, our publicly owned nursing home. While it particularly bothers me to see elder abuse or neglect at a publicly owned facility, it can also happen in more private settings that get less attention. A case in point is Moravian Hall Square, which is often held up as the gold standard that everyone else should try to emulate. While that might be generally true, Nazareth police have charged a CNA employed there with elder abuse (abuse of a care dependent person).  

According to the online blotter known as Crimewatch, "On September 10, 2026, at 10:34 AM, Nazareth Police responded to a report of elder abuse at Moravian Hall Square, located at 175 North Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the reporting party, who stated that a resident's husband had reported observing bruises on his wife's body in the area of her wrist. An internal investigation was conducted by Moravian Hall Square staff, resulting in the accused being placed on administrative leave pending further notice. The police were subsequently contacted, and an investigation was launched, involving interviews with the alleged offender and others connected to the incident. The Northampton County District Attorney's office was notified of the allegations. Following the completion of the investigation, charges were filed against the accused individual.

The accused indicidual is Lindsey Roberts, age 43. According to LinkedIn, Roberts is a CNA at Moravian Hall Square. 

Interestingly, I am unable to locate this case in the Unified Judicial System Portal.

Zrinski Claims She Tried to Keep Grand Jury Report Secret Because It Contains "Lies" and "Perjury"

At last night's meeting of Northampton County Council, member Dave Holland asked Executive Tara Zrinski why she tried to suppress the Grand Jury Report concerning Gracedales made public by NorCo DA Steve Baratta on September 10. He did so in accordance with an Order of Court obtained from President Judge Craig Dally, which was issued after Zrinski had asked that the report be kept from the public and was given an opportunity to make her case. 

Zrinski had argued that an investigative grand jury can be convened only to investigate crimes, but as President Judge Dally observed, an investigating grand jury can also "propose recommendations for legislative, executive, or administrative action in the public interest based upon stated findings." Those findings included "sluggish emergency response times, the inconsistent presence of law enforcement, medicare inspection deficiencies, derelictions in resident care, troubling resident conduct, elopements, staffing shortages, and a reliance on outside nursing agencies."

Although Zrinski had earlier stated that she took the Grand Jury Report seriously, the opposite was apparent. 

She told Holland she tried to suppress the report because ...

"There were lies in testimony. There were people in that report that committed perjury, and there was no one holding them accountable."

Holland: "That's a pretty serious allegation."

Zrinski: "And I made it right here."

Holland: "Testimony is testimony, right?"

Zrinski: "I get it. I have made testimony under oath. I understand what it means."

She sure does. In a custody dispute from a long time ago, it was Zrinski herself who was sanctioned $2,750 by then Judge Emil Giordano for "perjury." (See NorCo Docket 2007-9468, Court Order dated 12/16/08, Paragraph 14). Ironically, the attorney who sought and obtained that sanction was Melissa Rudas, who is now the county Solicitor.

Now she's accusing others of what she did. 

What were the lies and perjury? The numerous DOH deficiency reports issued in 2025, for which the county was fined? The testimony of several police officers, including an officer who testified that she saw supervising nurses sleeping at their desks when called to the home at night?

What I also find interesting is that, though Zrinski told Holland that she attempted to suppress the work of the Grand Jury because it's full of lies and perjury, she at no time made that argument to the court. The argument that she did make, i.e. a grand jury can only investigate crimes, is legally frivolous.  

She said that "[j]ustice should do no harm. And therefore, that is why I asked for it to be quashed."

In addition to being full of lies and perjury, Zrinski added that the unwashed masses would be unable to judge for themselves how much weight to attach to a Grand Jury Report. "[I]t wasn't to hide the report per se, but just like anything else, the public doesn't have the capacity or the knowledge to discern what was true and what was not in those narrative statements. So, to them, everything was true."

Now you know. She thinks you're stupid, and she was only trying to hide the report to keep you from falling for Barfatta's bullshit.

After claiming the report was full of lies and perjury and that you're too stupid to distinguish fact from fiction, she took a passive aggressive shot at Baratta: "I'm not going to speculate what the DA's objective was, but he got his headlines." 

Holland thanked Zrinski for her explanation, saying he was asking them on behalf of the public. "I have to say, those questions were better than Bernie O'Hare's," she answered.

I agree. At at the time of her news conference, I was unaware that she actually had really tried to keep the report from the public. I discovered that later in the day, when I was able to read her full reply. So  Holland's questions needed to be answered, and they were probably better coming from him than me. But whether Zrinski knows it or not, and apparently, she does not, they have made her look worse

Zrinski Proposes Wage Hikes for 27 Nurse Supervisor Positions

Last night, Executive Tara Zrinski asked NorCo Council to approve wage hikes for 27 nurse supervisor positions at Gracedale. She described the proposal as part of an “Operation Stabilization Strategy" to restore stability, strengthen accountability, and secure the long-term future of Gracedale. She acknowledged that immediate action is required. 

In a recent visit, Zrinski spoke with several agency nurse supervisors who told her they would be willing to become Gracedale employees if only the county could offer competitive compensation.

The financial disparity is significant:

- Gracedale’s nurses are making approximately $34 per hour.
- The county is paying an agency approximately $31 per hour on top of the nurse’s compensation.
- The resulting cost to the county is approximately $91 per hour for an agency nurse.
- Zrinski said agency supervisors indicated they would consider becoming county employees if their compensation were increased by approximately 40 percent over what the county currently pays.

Her argument was that the county is already spending substantial amounts on agency personnel and could redirect some of that money toward better compensation for its own supervisory nurses. She believes a starting salary of $52 an hour is the "magic number" needed to attract and retain supervisory nurses who actually work for the county instead of an agency.

She is also planning revisions to the pay structure in her 2027 budget, including adding new steps and creating additional starting-salary opportunities.

The agency-supervision problem

Agency employees are currently supervising county employees. She has seen herself and has heard of supervisors on their phones while working, wearing Crocs and simply disregarding county policies because they were not county employees. She believes this upgrade in pay would both reduce reliance on agency nurses and make Gracedale safer and more accountable. 

Her point was that county-employed supervisors would have greater authority and accountability over Gracedale employees. Zrinski said having county RNs supervising county staff would therefore not only address the staffing issue but could also contribute to a safer and more accountable Gracedale.

Zrinski also addressed the District Attorney's Grand Jury report concerning Gracedale, which was released last week. She still tried to minimize the matter, noting it addressed deficiencies found in 2025. There have been 5 occasions this year in which Gracedale has been cited for patient assaults, an elopement and failure to provide care. 

She said the administration is taking the DA's findings seriously, while noting that the conduct described in the report occurred approximately a year earlier and had already been discussed with County Council on two previous occasions. But she acknowledged that the report has created an additional "sense of urgency." and said several times that the home is in "triage" mode. 

In particular, she said the report is affecting Gracedale's public reputation, referrals and overall ability to attract and retain residents and staff.

Zrinski emphasized that the county needs to act immediately rather than simply discuss the problems.

I agree and wonder why she has waited nearly a year to do so. 

Council member Dave Holland said that increasing nurses' pay made sense as a first step toward addressing the problems at Gracedale. Council member Jason Boulette added that the proposal could help address the longstanding issue of hiring experienced nurses at the lowest possible step.

While Gracedale Burns, What is NorCo Council Doing?

When a county-owned nursing home is run so poorly that it attracts the attention of an Investigating Grand Jury, it's time to pay attention. When the County Executive both minimizes the problems and actually tried to prevent the public from knowing what is going on, it's time to pay attention. While Gracedale burns, Executive Tara Zrinski has been fiddling with a long-range continuum of care concept, unmindful that unless current problems are fixed, there'll be no continuum at all. But what about County Council, who even Zrinski now agrees is the county's governing body? Last year's County Council raised numerous concerns. So did this year's County Council, which voted to establish a separate Gracedale oversight committee for the problem-plagued home on July 2. Since then?

Crickets. Sure, they voted to appoint a Continuum of Care Director, but there have been no Gracedale oversight committee meetings or reports about Gracedale itself. 

Why has nothing happened since then? Two words.

Ken Kraft. He is County Council President. 

When Council member Dave Holland, himself a former Gracedale Administrator, proposed a Gracedale oversight committee he received a lot of pushback from the usual suspects - Zrinski, Kraft and Council members Jeff Warren and Kelly Keegan. At first, they tried to table the matter. When that failed, Kraft argued that this new committee was "over-reaching our authority as a Council." When Keegan was told the committee would provide oversight, her response was "I don't understand. That's the administration's job." Jeff Warren agreed and said he had a "significant" problem with the word "oversight." So the administration is supposed to provide oversight over itself?

In the end the resolution creating this new oversight committee was adopted by a 6-3 vote. Even Warren voted for it in the end. 

Kraft, who tried to table this oversight committee and voted against it, has dragged his feet over the formation of this Gracedale watchdog, which has yet to meet. For a period of 10 weeks, the County Council website still fails to identify any members. But Zrinski let the cat out of the bag at her news conference last week. She said the committee, consisting of four members has been formed.

I've made some calls and have learned that the Gracedale Oversight Committee Chair is none other than Kelly Keegan, who voted against it. Kraft, who also voted No to the Committee, put himself on it. 

It's clear that Kraft and Keegan decided to disregard the will of a Council majority and just refuse to call a meeting. 

With the release of the Grand Jury report, they now will probably have to do something.

In my opinion, a Council President exists to preside over meetings.  He makes committee assignments as well, but there is nothing in the Home Rule Charter that gives him this authority. In this instance, he has clearly abused his authority and has defied the will of six members of County Council. County Council has the authority to reverse Kraft and appoint members who will provide real oversight of the beleagured home instead of the charade that Kraft has created.  

Why Taiba Sultana Will Never Be Elected Ever Again

This is what former Easton City Council member Taiba Sultana posted on the 25th anniversary of 9/11:

25 years ago today, 2,977 people were killed.

In their name, the U.S. launched a “War on Terror” that cost about $8 trillion in public tax money and directly killed more than 900,000 people across Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan. Count indirect deaths from disease, hunger, and displacement, and the estimate climbs to 4.5 million deaths.

We were told it was justice. It was for arms profits, oil, and imperial control.

Honoring the fallen means condemning the lies that sent so many more to their graves.

I SAID WHAT I SAID!!!