A survey by the Alliance for Nursing Home Care contains more bad news for nursing homes nationwide. Layoffs and reduced benefits are the likely result of a perfect storm of reduced Medicare reimbursements and declining state revenues. One-third of the nation's nursing homes plan layoffs. Three-quarters of surveyed facilities are planning wage adjustments, and half of the homes plan to reduce benefits.
These reductions also lead to a reduced level of care, according to the report. This is exactly why Executive John Stoffa wanted to sell Gracedale.
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Monday, April 02, 2012
26 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
Still blowing that broken horn. Millions of babby boomers are a coming and you keep singing the shortsighted quick cash policies of John Stoffa.
ReplyDeleteWe sad to hear that. It should be solved as soon as possible. The public health care as well as home nursing should get high priority since it held an important role for people. Hopefully, it will be better soon.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the baby boomers have seen what goes on at Gracedale and don't want to be crammed in rooms and/or choked until death.
ReplyDeleteReferendum schmeferendum. Downsize it now. Prepare for it's closing in four years. That's not a very long time. Let's start now.
shut down all the nursing homes and force the elderly into labor camps.
ReplyDeletethe union goons are already trained to be the overseers.
Health care is not a right.
ReplyDeleteIt must be earned by hard work and paid for by employee contribution.
Government welfare and socialism are not the answers.
Sell Gracedale!
ReplyDeleteSad day for a Goon -- then the facts would silence the Bullies!
They are also cutting money to Children and Youth, Mental health, Developmental programs and Aging..I assume you'd want to outsource all those agencies also..
ReplyDeleteIf it were up to our federal Government they'd continue to spend $660 billion a year on defense while the rest of the country is falling apart..Google our defense expenditures compared to the rest of the world and ask yourself whether our priorities are misplaced or not...The State government could have gotten multimillions in tax revenue from the gas companies as every other state has done but our governor takes a cool million from them in contributions and then refusues a gas extraction tax..More Republican misplaced priorities. Yea, this will cost the county taxpayers more thanks to the state and federal Government and their misplaced priorities...People say they are against a health care mandate yet they have no problem throwing away trillions of dollars for the military.You might not like tax dollars going toward health care and I might not like trillions of tax dollars wasted on idiotic wars..However, I think unless you are a complete moron , you'd choose health care for our working class before tossing trillions into unwinnable wars that serve no freaking purpose. I'm tired of hearing about this socialist crap when these same idiots want to let the infamous military industrial complex go hog wild..My point here is blame the Feds and the State for slicing human services not the people of the County who wanted to keep Gracedale going and now have to pay alot more for it through no damn fault of their own...The last council should have funded Gracedale, but didnt. They also get some blame...Gracedale should be a priority. Let's stop worrying about wasting money putting all human services into one building..Maybe we can get the casino money we handed to easton for no apparent reason..What about that one half million a year??
It always made sense to get out of Gracedale. Healthcare is an unproductive type of business to run, especially in the public sector where it's difficult to control costs.
ReplyDeleteAdd on lots of private sector competition with nicer, modern amenities, coupled with the fact that most people would prefer to live at home as long as possible and it gets really difficult to fill all those beds.
Considering people live a lot longer these days, Gracedale will be waiting a while for guests.
Gracedale's sale is inevitable because the private sector can make it slightly more productive. As long as it remains in the public sector, it will go from expensive to prohibitively expensive.
Heaven forbid that someone should tell the truth about the drain being placed on local budgets by nursing homes. Throughout the country, state cutbacks and Medicare reductions have forced many municipal governments to consider sale. NC is by no means unique. The only difference is that, in NC, the good intentions of those desiring a sale have been called into question.
ReplyDelete"Gracedale's sale is inevitable because the private sector can make it slightly more productive. As long as it remains in the public sector, it will go from expensive to prohibitively expensive."
ReplyDeleteExcept that now, it will be very difficult to sell the facility. The time to have sold was last year. Now that all these cuts are taking place, no private facility will be willing to offer what was offered before.
Why not question "saving private gracedale" folks-their intentions were nothing but selfish-who can trust them now!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that the Republicans in the Senate filibustered a bill that would have ended 40 billion in tax subsidies to the oil companies..That 40 billion would have certainly helped to pay for nursing hoome assistance, ya think?? You are right. These crazy bastards at the Statye and federal levels are killing local government by making cuts in nursing care while defending oil subsidies and also refusing good revenue sources such as gas extraction fees..They are the bad guys..These oil whores in congress, including some Democrats, should be tarrred and feathered..However, instead, we reelect them..Then we cry about cuts to nursing homes..The people of northampton County voted to keep Gracedale for better or worse..Maybe they want a nursing home whwere their fathers, mothers, and grandparents can go and be treated with Dignity..Have you ever had a friend or parent who was placed in one of these private nursing care facilities? They mostly are short staffed and the staff they have are poorly paid. So, they give crap care...That's why people voted to keep Gracedale..They wanted the elderly in our county to be well cared for..If, because of ignorant and greedy politicians at the State and Federal level, money is cut to these facilities, they are to blame..Not the people of Northampton County...Stoffa, yourself, Angle, and the local papers told people this would cost them more..The people responded overwhelmingly to keep it...So, do what needs to be done already and fund the place..
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, "doing what needs to be done" will require an endless amount of tax increases.
ReplyDeleteThat's not being partisan about the topic. The cost of health care labor is high. In Gracedale's case, you're not even treating the same number of patients, but less at a continually higher cost because your staff isn't being reduced at the same rate.
Declining enrollment, along with declining subsidy will require the County contribute more and more to Gracedale. That's an inevitability.
The only way you combat the ending of that movie is to control labor costs which won't happen.
Taxpayers of the present voted to keep Gracedale. Don't be sure six years from now taxpayers have a different opinion.
No economist in the world would argue for a public entity to keep a nursing home because the economics are never going to trend to the positive. The County won't make money. It won't break even. Looking at past trends of when Gracedale did fairly well for itself is irrelevant because those trends no longer apply to the present.
No question that it is going to get more expensive thanks to our state and federal governments. They love cutting services and forcing the cities and counties to pick up the ball..They then sit back, like Governor corbett and brag about how they have not raised taxes..What a joke..He has forced property taxes throughout the state togo up because of his budget cuts..Does he really think that people didnt notice and that they are that stupid?? Yes, apparently gvernment lack of funding will force not only public but private nursing facilities out of business...They can obviously give a crap about where the elderly end up...In the end, the county will not only have to give up on Gracedale but all Human Services...The services all these folks will get from the private sector will be horrendous...I guess the republicans believe these folks don't vote anyway, so why give two shits about them..
ReplyDeleteNobody is being denied care. The unions are being denied their slop trough. Gracedale will be sold in 2016 for about 10 bucks. Thanks goons. You saved your jobs at patient and taxpayer expense. You'll be sent packing eventually. But not until you've caused a whole lot of damage. Not another dime for Gracedale. It would all be wasted at this point.
ReplyDeleteI have an idea. Make Gracedale and surrounding area a KIZ zone. Get the Allentown mayor involved, he can fix anything.
ReplyDeleteGracedale and hockey players have so much in common. No teeth.
save animals by doing experiments on the elderly and union goons
ReplyDeleteJust the goons. They've abused the elderly enough.
ReplyDelete95% OF THESE COMMENTS ARE FROM IGNORANT IDIOTS INCLUDING YOU BERNIE! Why can't you just accept how the people voted and put it to rest. I really hope the day comes quick when you need a nursing home and no PRIVATE SECTOR facility accepts you and you end up at the very place with people that you insist on constantly slandering, Karma is a bitch and it is just waiting for you.
ReplyDeleteNo question voters said to keep Gracedale. Now they may been misled, but they have spoken, and I certainly respect that decision. But this is no reason to stick your head in the sand and pretend that very real problems in the financing do not exist. They do, and are being felt everywhere. Pointing to these problems is not ignorant, but is instead intended to arm us all with knowledge.
ReplyDeletes for your comment about my fate at the hands of Gracedale staff, I would call that an ignorant remark, and one that damages you and your cause far more than i could ever do.
There is so much hate and nonsense in this blog it is disheartening. O'Hare/Angle and Stoffa have created such a hate storm, pitting citizen against citizen, it will take special people to fix this mess.
ReplyDeleteYou should be ashamed O'Hare, you continue to stir the pot created by Angle and Stoffa.
Actually, all I am doing is passing along information. You'd prefer that I pretend there's no problem, but there is. This is something that should be useful to people who want to save Gracedale, too.
ReplyDeleteThe only person attacking anyone seems to be you and other Gracedale Goons.
You do relish going after Gracedale Bernie. You appear to take joy in any perceived problems.
ReplyDeleteI am passing along information. You can pretend it's not there.
ReplyDeleteWill you be addressing the email that is getting the Stoffa Administration in trouble.
ReplyDeleteSpreading a lie does not make it true.
ReplyDelete