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Thursday, May 12, 2011
Gracedale: Just the Facts
My hats off to the local tea party, which has just published a Gracedale Voters' Guide. Northampton County Exec John Stoffa and the Fake Rev, were asked the same questions. The difference is startling. Check it out here.
11 comments:
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Most of Stoffa's long winded answers are nothing more than speculation!
ReplyDeleteMartinez was well advised to keep his answers short. The more he says the more you realize how clueless he is. He also is well advised to keep answers brief and non-specific because he knows his side will win the vote.
ReplyDeleteThen, Stoffa takes over with sweeping power and the layoffs may begin to protect taxpayers. Sale opponents will win this battle. But the language of the referendum guarantees they've already lost the war.
Stoffa has bested the bad guys again.
"startling?"
ReplyDeleteMartinez comes off as either uninformed, uninterested in research, or ignorant of the details.
ReplyDeleteHow can Mr. Stoffa guarantee some of these things he is stating, HE CAN'T. Once it is sold, he nor council members will have NOTHING to do with Gracedale and its ratings will bottom out. Just check out medicare.gov on nursing home ratings and look up what happened to former county homes that were privatized, the ratings DROPPED, Dauphin County, Spring Creek is a prime example. Amazing that some citizens are more concerned at what MAY be an additional $50 in taxes per year and will allow the care of almost 700 former taxpaying residents to slip. SHAME ON YOU!!! I will be amazed if Bernie will keep this posted because this is something that speaks the truth
ReplyDelete"How can Mr. Stoffa guarantee some of these things he is stating, HE CAN'T"
ReplyDeleteHe can guarantee it bc the buyer is willing to put it in writing, is willing to submit to quarterly independent reviews and is willing to put it in the deed. This has been mentioned at numerous town halls, but you insist on raising invalid concerns.
I wish Rev. Martinez would have answered the first question. That is the most important one: "Why does the County want to sell?" He answered another question: "Does it have to be sold or not?" I would like to know if it is so profitable, then what is the County's motivation to sell? The other side gave many reasons:
ReplyDeleteJohn Stoffa:
ReplyDelete"The Administration wants to sell Gracedale for the ultimate benefit of the nursing home residents and to prevent a significant tax increase while retaining Gracedale under private ownership. Owning and operating nursing homes is no longer a core function of county government in that 38 of 67 counties in PA have no nursing homes and seven or eight are in the process of selling. There are no counties currently purchasing or getting into the ownership of nursing homes. Over the past 2 ½ years, the County will have contributed $10,070,142 in County funds to the operation of Gracedale. It is likely that this trend will continue. In addition, Medicaid reimbursement, which funds up to 85 percent of the residents, is scheduled to be reduced by two percent during the upcoming state fiscal year, with additional reductions likely in future years."
Where do the figures from 4 come from? I don't understand how if Martinez doesn't work for the County or Gracedale or the company that wants to buy, where do his figures come from? Is budget information and the sale figures public information? Is it posted somewhere that we can see?
ReplyDeleteThs is public information that can be gathered from going to meetings or, in the Fake Rev's case, getting it from Barron.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Martinez' job? If you said he got his reverend certificate off the Internet, I assume he doesn't have a church. Does he work? Is he in the assisted living center industry?
ReplyDelete