About Me

My photo
Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, April 04, 2011

Pa. Counties Consider Getting Out of the Nursing Home Biz

An AP article published at The Republic provides the following facts:

√ - 50 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties have operated nursing homes in the past, but only 33 do so now, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

√ - Erie County officials are considering a sale of their two nursing homes, known as Pleasant Ridge Manor.

√ - Cambria County sold its 325-bed facility last year. President Comm'r P.J. Stevens states, "Read the tea leaves. Just look at the climate out there. Funding is being cut, and I just don't see where that climate is going to get any better. ... County commissioners are not qualified to run a nursing home. In the private sector, nursing homes get paid for services rendered and have a greater ability to collect that reimbursement."

√ - Lackawanna County's sale of 272-bed facility enabled it to balance budget and pay off $6 million in debt.

√ - Carbon County selling its nursing home, which is losing $2.5 million to $3 million per year. Comm'r Charles Getz: "This is a business decision. We can't keep going back to the taxpayers x-amount of times and raise taxes. This isn't the time to raise taxes, with the recession. I think you're going to see more and more counties selling their nursing homes."

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is "jimmy cracks corn"

go away

Anonymous said...

you know each time you tell a lie your weener gets smaller
heres looking at you through a microscope

Bernie O'Hare said...

Very witty responses to an AP news story, reflecting the collective intelligence of the Gracedale Goons.

Anonymous said...

Smaller Homes. Conservative Republican majorities that kneel at the alter of big business.

Apples to oranges. If you want to do something bad enough you make the statistics and information work for you.

Gracedale has been and would be a viable operation without the sabotage of the Angle/Stoffa regime. Point is O'Hare when this gores to the people for a vote. Honest factual non-disputable facts will be sent to the electorate not you propaganda pulled from Angles ass.

Next you will saying that b3cause no other Pennsylvania county has any members that have been condemned by both the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP, we should have Angle resign. His kind isn't anywhere else. Besides there is a County resolution on the books calling for him to resign. Let us be consistent.
The people will win.

God Bless America. god Bless the Voices of the People!!

brenda said...

And the people will vote it down

Anonymous said...

FYI: Adams County (Gettysburg) is in the process of selling as well.

http://www.inyork.com/ci_17744348?source=most_viewed

Anonymous said...

You make it sound like only a couple of counties, 33 is like almost 50%.

Hey Johnny c'mon, Jimmy is jumping off a bridge, wanna play too...

Bernie O'Hare said...

7:29,

Interesting article. I note a provision in the contract requiring that the new facility keep 80% of its beds available for indigents. In addition, the nursing home lost money when new management was tried.

Anonymous said...

I wanted my elected majority to do it for me, and they tried. Directly voting for the sale of Gracedale to avoid a breathtaking tax increase and send the union packing will be even more satisfying.

Anonymous said...

Sell it, and sell these union goons with it, too bad we can outsource jobs but not people. If these losers from Gracedale could be outsourced, I'd personally deliver them to Nicoragua.

If you don't like what Bernie has to say 100 percent of the time, then you are a moron 100 percent of the time for coming to the webpage...idiots..

Anonymous said...

Privatization and centralization are really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really

...bad ideas; it's like giving power to a district magistrate and having a another families member be a cop.

Have the people in these area lost there minds?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Yes, they're all quite mad. The only sane people are the ones who favor keeping Graceland.

Anonymous said...

Apples/Oranges
you said this long ago when someone compared Lehigh/NorCo
Now, I don't see YOUR point
can't have both ways
Senor' Doofus
move on

Anonymous said...

Norco has the most antiquated and outdated jail in the state, it only makes sense we should be the last to go private with the nursing home. NORCO #67! WHOO HOO!

Anonymous said...

Bernie give it a rest already,if the people want to keep Gracedale open they will vote as such,if not to keep it open they will vote as such,stop all the crying and whining the people will vote and thats it,whatever happenes happenes.

tinkerbell said...

lmao @ the pic and caption!!!!

Anonymous said...

Some very angry and bitter people on this blog. Let the people speak. It is the most democratic thing to do considering the magnitude of this decision.

Maybe you should be talking about privitaizing the prison as that is truely a bottemless pit.

Our elderly and infirm taxpayers deserve more consideration than gangbangers and druggies.

noel jones said...

where do you find these images? hilarious!

Anonymous said...

The people have already voted on Gracedale. They elected a majority of council members who are fiscal conservatives and not in bed with the unions. If they make the decision to sell Gracedale, the Wolf building (a historic landmark), Minsi Lake or any other county asset that is what they and the county executive were elected to do!! It is a fiscal decision that is their duty under the HRC. Let's hope that Commonwelath Court sees it that way on Wednesday.

The Battle Cry of Freedom said...

Anonymous 2:49AM
Maybe you should sleep longer you might have a clearer head. You and you fellow "ismers" are not facing reality. THERE IS NO MORE MONEY FOR FRIVOLITY THAT IS WHY WE MUST MOVE TOWARD FRUGALITY as noted by Benjamin Franklin.
Now you and your buddies can continue to be funny cunni linguists or you can start moving in the right direction. Gracedale is not, let me repeat that, is not going to be a prosperous institution for the county. And let me remind you that at this point they are going to keep the folks where they are despite the declining numbers. If push comes to shove you just might get what you and your pals have been talking about, a closed institution due to the defunding of same.
If you need proof of what is going on I suggest you look at the house of cards known as school districts. Major teacher cuts in the three cities of the valley. Major programs will disappear like all day kindergarten. Pay and play sports that will ultimately disappear. Meanwhile our infrastructure, bridges and roads are crumbling in front of our very eyes and it will get worse. PennDOT is using tar and chip, a process known as chipping, on state roads and to fill potholes because the money that was suppose to go for the shovel ready jobs last year went to education--say thank you Eddie. You and your ilk are fools and it is extremely difficult to abide the likes of you and your other little ism friends who believe that the government will be there to save you lousy posterior.

Anonymous said...

and NONE of them ran to sell any of your examples

although the parks are next up on Ron's list...fortunately he'll be gone before he can do any further damage

hey look at me I balanced the budget
all I had to do was fire 800 employees
I'm a regular Einstein a math wiz I tell ya

now lets build a new gov center out at Gracedale, oh and my bud Abe gets some free money for the druggies

people elected Obama to make decissions
I'll bet you'd like to be able to vote on some of those
can't have it both ways

Anonymous said...

7:04 AM

why do you think they are trying to keep it from a vote?

because they know it will be voted to remain in the county hands

that is the only reason

if Ron had valid polling data to show a different outcome
he wouldn't have challenged

put your thinking cap on

Anonymous said...

Battle Cry
would you give it up already
enough with the fore fathers quotes and if you had ANY BRAINS you would look up the money for roadwork WENT TO ROADWORK
the money for eduction
WENT TO EDUCATION
I read the misinformed story you quoted
you are wrong the story was false

there could be no misdirection of funds
the governor of South Carolina
you remember don't cry for me Argentina
first denied the funds and then said he would take them to plug his states deficit
NO NO NO
he had to use the money for the uses it was intened
now my advice is to do some research somewhere other than the FOX news website
I work for the Department of Transportation
you lie
and our website shows all the jobs where all the money was spent and how much is left
knock it off

Anonymous said...

THE BUNGLED WHIMNE OF FOLLISHNESS

Without the whole Eagle and Flag thingee going on, can you get it up?

Your comments are based on emotion. Most of your fellow teabaggers are the same way.

Again you whine and moan, more like a pissant than any eagle, but alas you have no solutions.

Sell, sell, sell. What about the current laws and statutes that demand the County be there for the poor and indigent. Certainly the state does not demand we own a nursing home, they don't care how we provide the service but we must provide the service.

So once you gulp down the Angle/Stoffa love juice and they are nicely retired with multiple pensions and widows dollars, what then.

Will county taxpayers be forced to subsidize the elderly poor, sure and good old Abe will tell us how much we have to pay.

I am sure good old Abe and the other kindly business men will give the county a break because they are really nice guys.

Besides after bathing in all the money you bagger loons are giving them in the name of patriotism, they should be nice to us.

Hey why not put a rifle and a spear next to the eagle and right in front of the flag.

"Better a Turkey than an eagle", Ben Franklin.

Anonymous said...

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/CPDM.nsf/CPMDHomepage?OpenFrameset&frame=main&src=/Internet/Bureaus/CPDM.nsf/econRecovery?OpenForm

for your viewing displeasure as I'm sure you would like people to believe your statements
enjoy

patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel

Anonymous said...

Republicans are now fully committed to the doctrine that we must destroy employment in order to save it.

The only Goons are the poor pathetic fiscal austerity tea baggers who are saving the tax cuts for the monied class as they help plunge America into the next depression.

Yup, those damn unions are all to blame.

Anonymous said...

Chipping
Funds for entire rehab of roadways are subject to change due to winter weather. If like last season we had an unusual amount of salting and overtime it directly impacts resurfacing projects. Roads the were scheduled for resurfacing may now only be chipped. Some roads are chipped to give them extra life. If we would do total rehab on all roads you'd pissing and moaning we are spending too much. Oh and you forgot to add that the shovel leaners are overpaid union goons.

Anonymous said...

At this year's National Governors Association (NGA) meeting, Governor Ed Rendell's tenure as Chair fittingly came to a close with a plenary session on infrastructure financing. For the last year, Rendell has highlighted the issue through a timely NGA initiative, "Strengthening Our Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future."

Rendell has been a tireless advocate of an infrastructure-driven recovery within the NGA and also as co-leader of Building America's Future along with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as through his leadership of the State of Pennsylvania. He has made his case under a Los Angeles freeway overpass, at the White House and on Meet the Press.

Invariably, Rendell has three main talking points:

(1) Our infrastructure is hopelessly degraded and in need of massive carefully planned investment;

(2) Given constrained budgets, we should explore innovative financing techniques like P3s; and

(3) We should model our own projects on success stories abroad in China, the United Kingdom and Western Europe


I just want to let you know I liked very little of what Rendell did as governor, however, YOU can't lie about him and get away with it. There is plenty to criticize without fabricating.

Anonymous said...

Teabaggers can lie about anyone and anything and get away with it. it is at the core of their existence and philosophy.

Anonymous said...

Well Bernie you did it again, on Business Matters! How do you get involved in such a mess? Because you are Ron Angle's puppet!!! when will you learn... Such a joke that show only showed half of what went on there... I wasn't there, but I do know that they edited all the good vocals!! shame, shame, shame! The public should really hear what is going on... The name of the show should be changed to the Ron & Bernie or should I say the Dog & Pony show!!!

Bernie O'Hare said...

They edited out the good stuff? Like what? When one of them started poking me? When another of them started shrieking that Angle is Satan?

The Gracedale Goons live up to the name I've given them. The Fake Rev was exposed as the fraud and phony he is.

You weren't there but know they edited out the good stuff.

Typical bullshit, Mr. Schlener.

Anonymous said...

If all the other Counties jump of a bridge...should we?

Anonymous said...

If the choice is taking are chances jumping off a bridge or be ruled by Angle/Stoffa/O'Hare, most normal people would take their chances with the bridge!

Anonymous said...

our chances

Anonymous said...

Hey Battle Cry of Freedom.....how is that Teachers Pension doing for you!

Anonymous said...

Hey Battle Cry of Freedom.....how is that Teachers Pension doing for you!

You know who this is,
and they take a pension?
I would venture a guess as to the identity, however I guess it wouldn't be fair. I do know of a gigantic hypocritical ass who was a teacher, takes a huge unfunded pension, and is a vocal opponent of the pension system and all things union.
How about we go a different route.
Is this person a former
Bethlehem School District teacher?
If so allow me one follow up question and I will then know the identity .

I like to quote the founding fathers although I only use one of their quotes these days

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"

hey if the fit shoes

The Battle Cry of Freedom said...

Anonymous 6:39PM
Rendell was a great talker but the fact of the matter is that Eddie sent his money to his pals in education and not to PennDot. You might want to do your research. Let's see where it all goes at the end of the season. They are patching here and patching there. The major routes will get hot tar and rolled while those on minor state roads will see chipping. Ask yourself the last time you saw that happen at the state level.
There was a time when unions stood for industrial success today they stand for the ruination of industry. Sam Gompers is rolling in his grave.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 6:39PM
Rendell was a great talker but the fact of the matter is that Eddie sent his money to his pals in education and not to PennDot. You might want to do your research. Let's see where it all goes at the end of the season. They are patching here and patching there. The major routes will get hot tar and rolled while those on minor state roads will see chipping. Ask yourself the last time you saw that happen at the state level.
There was a time when unions stood for industrial success today they stand for the ruination of industry. Sam Gompers is rolling in his grave.

I will not waste my time and effort
with you and your lies.
Facts are facts.
you lie ...but then you know that
C.M.

Anonymous said...

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/economicrecovery/arardistribution.htm

this is the distribution chart which was followed to the "t"
you know like
TEA
why not educate yourself
read it

Anonymous said...

WHICH AGENCIES HAVE PAID OUT THE MOST MONEY?
Rank State Amount
1. Department of Health and Human Services $107,227,975,096
2. Department of Education $75,028,813,005
3. Department of Labor $63,899,634,893
4. Department of Transportation $26,951,529,736
5. Department of Agriculture $24,265,919,082
6. Social Security Administration $13,741,103,309
7. Department of Energy $13,455,135,297
8. Department of the Treasury $10,976,668,266
9. Department of Housing and Urban Development $9,280,732,221
10. Environmental Protection Agency $5,572,174,817


the monies were provided for different sections of the economy
to have a overall effect on the total economy not in one sector.
it is illegal to use the money for purposes not intended try to wrap that around your brain

you are so off base with your reasoning I don't know if your
f -ing with me or just plain stupid
look it up this isn't something only I can do ....the info is there
stop your lies

Anonymous said...

You know thick head I work for the department

we will spend only 1.8 billion this year
down from 2.3 billion last year on roadways
that is less
you get it less
because we have spent nearly all of our money for roadwork from the stimulus
you are a fool

Anonymous said...

Pa received 31.1 BILLION
20 BILLION
grants loans contracts
11.1 BILLION
tax benefits

this is further broken down into sub catagories which are listed on the state website with all the monies spent to date, what is left over, who specifically as in private contractors and or agencies received the money

5.3 BILLION
healthcare

4.8 BILLION
workforce

3.0 BILLION
education

1.2 BILLION
community family support

1.1 BILLION
transportation

407 MILLION
other infrastructure

404 MILLION
energy and enviromental

400 MILLION
public safety

all monies accounted for all monies trackable on the stae website
do yourself a favor and turn off
BECK and LIMBAUGH