Now comes even more disturbing news. According to a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Governor Tom Corbett's latest budget proposal will slash an additional 4% in the reimbursement rate to nursing homes. This translates to $8 per day per patient. Over the course of a year, this will roughly add up to $1,752,000.00.
Where will Gracedale find the money?
From the Northampton County taxpayer, who voted overwhelmingly to keep the nursing facility for at least the next two years, no matter what the cost.
Sell it anyway?
Try to find a buyer now who's willing to pay in excess of $40 million.
34 comments:
norco fools should have dumped this white elephant years ago
Corbett will be a one term Governor. You can complain all you want, but Gracedale is hear to stay. Get over it Bernie.
More and more private homes are built every year for a reason.
One was just approved on Stefko in the last day or so.
"Save Gracedale" just saved Union Jobs.
"Gracedale is hear to stay."
Great spelling.
A wretchedly bad mistake to hold on to it.
Gracedale competes with the private sector. This was never the intent of a poor house , an alms house or a county home. It has lost it`s raison d`etre.
Keep crying. There is no doubt that Stoffa and his crowd will use this as another reason to sabotage Gracedale. All we can do is hope, work hard and pray until a new Executive and County Council is elected. One that will be honest fair and experienced.
No one trusts John Stoffa and frankly he should resign. That being said he won't because he is a stubborn old cuss. But Gracedale will survive and flourish despite he and the teabaggers moans and groans.
Take your Stoffa hate and shove it. Are you out of your mind? There is no way that Governor Corbett would propose a reimbursement reduction just so Stoffa can "sabotage" Gracedale. There is no way that Stoffa forced Barron von Footinmouth to encourage asbestos smears at the very time the nursing facility is trying to build up its census.
At the current rate, there will be no Gracedale in a few years. And no jobs at all.
Brilliant. Pat yourself on the back.
1st the Guvs' budget is proposed....just that....pat yourself on the back for explaining how the sky is falling....
maybe a 30% tax hike is the offing.... keep voting GOP..... no state taxhikes...except pass the bag to the county...just lke the Rominator
Stoffa will twist and distrot the facts in order to destroy Gracedale. He has done it in the past and will do it again.
With a competent Administration, Gracedale worked just fine. In fact the worst losses in Gracedale's history were when John Stoffa was Human Services Director and County Executive, look it up.
Things that make you go Hmmm!
Gracedale was built before the private elder care industry took off. Now you have private nursing homes, assisted living and active communities to consider when you're older and can't take care of yourself anymore.
Those private facilities are newer and nicer. They are where people go now.
It doesn't matter who is governor and who is county executive. Gracedale is a losing proposition insofar as finances are concerned.
Auction the place off and be done with it. It is nothing but a welfare system for the unions.
stupid remarks by ill informed people. What else is new.
Gracedale should be sold, Jewel of the county, what a joke!
Raise taxes to cover the shortfall in funding. Did not the voters approve the full support of Gracedale? Time to move on from this issue. Nothing here to discuss or see. All know that Gracedale can NOT support itself without LOCAL tax support. Ok then.
Can they not start a petition to SELL Gracedale?
6:33, you hit it on the head..Council knew the expense of gracedale but refused to raise taxes despite this..An overwhelming number of County voters supported Gracedale..They were aware of the cost..Everyone explained it to them..Council dropped the ball on this when they refused to support Stoffa's tax increase.of course, corbett's pulling his usual crap by cutting state funding to everything and thereby forcing up all local property taxes...of course, he'll tell you he didn't raise taxes..What a joke!
" Did not the voters approve the full support of Gracedale?"
No. The voters were never told they'd have to pay for it. The way the question was phrased, most people would vote for it. But it was deceptive precisely bc it never informed voters that the place has been draining resources, and is continuing to do so.
At the time that Stoffa and Angle wanted to sell this place, they had a buyer who was willing to pay $45 MM. That is not going to happen again. So thanks to public sector unions and a small group of fanatics who lied and disrupted meetings, the people were misinformed and led astray. Of course, if people had bothered to inform themselves, they would have seen all of this. But most did not.
Don't worry. McClure says the money is there.
Bernie you are wrong.
Every newspaper 45000+ subscribers to the Express which ran almost daily diatribes promoting the sale, along with FMZ, You, Angle, and Stoffa....screaming at every chance from the mountain that keeping Gracedale would raise taxes 30%. Only a deaf citizen would not have heard your catterwallings. Yet most people came out not to vote for candidates, however to vote to keep Gracedale . KNOWING IT WOULD COST THEM. I know it hurts you and your friends egos that you lost , but I think perpetuating a lie is not healthy.
Get over it....people are prepared to pay to keep the place ....just not you...we all know your position that said....
enjoy your tax increase.
If it were up to O'Hare the question on the ballot would have been three paragraphs long. Giving all the half-truths and outright distortions of Stoffa and Angle. The issue was, there was no "real" number or numbers to cite. The Stoffa team even changed the number monthly to suit their pitch.
You presume the voters are stupid and think they were getting it for free. Most people have more faith in the electorate than the conservatives of convenience.
I will admit Steve Barron was an ass for giving county council a bullshit excuse not to raise taxes. Because of needed prison expansions it will have to be raised in the near future anyway.
Stop the bullshit and move on to the next Stoffa 'whine and Sheeze' party.
Actually, if it were up to me, it would not have been on the ballot at all.
But it wasn't up to you.
And please explain where it is written that the sale would net 45 million? I've searched and only found 36 million. AND Angles latest opinion as stated at the council meeting is quite telling. He said we should have dumped it when we had the chance. Reminds me of the car salesman who puts sawdust in a trans to make it appear there is no problem. He just outed himself as a snakeoil salesman . Out to snooker the unsuspecting. That is really shameful, of course you two have no shame so the point is lost.
I am responding to what I'd do if it were up to me. Don't slam me for responding to someone - probably you - who thinks he or she knows what I would do.
Also, I never claimed the sale would "net" $45 MM. I said a buyer was willing to pay $45 MM, and that is accurate. The actual profit could have been $33-$35 MM.
As more and more public nursing homes are sold, Gracedale becomes less and less attractive, especially since reimbursement rates are declining in private homes as well.
The reality is that Stoffa and Angle were both right.
The reality is time will tell Mr. O'Hare. The reality is Stoffa and Angle wanted to dump Gracedale to pay other bills like the drug rehab lounge.
The reality is Mr. Stoffa and Angle were pissing in the well with Gracedale for years. The reality is Stoffa didn't even play at selling until he was assured a primary win and he knew the Republicans were endorsing him.
The reality is until an unbiased Administration gets in that actually tries to fulfill the will of the people and tries to "really" make Gracedale work, we won't know what we have. Since you endorse Panto. that leaves him out.
Stoffa has zero credibility on Gracedale at this point in time and not much on anything else.
The reality is Stoffa had promised the company to fix any problems on the county dime. That means all the asbestos and other things would have been deducted from the price. Lucky if the county netted 20 million for such a valuable piece of property.
Reality is Stoffa and Angle tired to pull a fast one and failed.
Reality is if Stoffa tried to run for a third term he would get beat by a dung beetle.
With all your personal attacks aimed at John Stoffa's integrity, it's obvious that you and reality have little in common. I could take an argument that we have a moral obligation to fund Gracedale, even if it costs the County $20 MM a year, but all these attempts at vilification end up marginalizing you. Sure, you managed to fool the people, but as Abe Lincoln said, you can't fool all the people all the time. The people are slowly growing wise to your games and your irrational hatred.
I am deleting your comments until you apologize for attacking Stoffa's integrity and start acting like a human being.
Ah.... don't confuse me with the Stoffa poster...I just want a link to somewhere that shows the 45 million number.
I'll "confuse" you with the Stoffa hater until you identify yourself.
12:35 PM
"Knowing it would cost them."
I think not. The "Save Gracedale" campaigne gave the impression it would be closed if sold.
It was a brilliant idea to save union jobs but a bullshit con job on the mostly uninformed public.
That's campaign. Sorry.
Bill with comments like that I do believe you are a ....Coker
RECALL STOFFA!
Funny how ALL need to identify who is to blame...sadly we all need to look in the mirrow for an answer.
Still, think about this, the monies available for elder care in the community let alone custodial care in a nursing home is EXTREMELY MINIMAL! BUT we dump monies into drug and alcohol and prisons of counties, state wide, with no to minimal arguements. Here's hoping you never need help from aging/LTC for your families.
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