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Thursday, August 01, 2013

Where is the Red Line for Gracedale?

The Express Times reports that Gracedale, the county-owned nursing home, is losing money. Quelle surprise. This is the third or fourth year in a row, and is likely the result of several factors. The cost of labor, noted by John Stoffa, certainly is a big fact, although the workforce must be credited with concessions that save taxpayers between $2.5 and 3 million per year. With private management, the County has begun to aggressively market the facility and streamline operations where it can. The census has increased, but falling reimbursement rates are something nobody at the county level can control. State representatives have been made aware of this problem, but I am unsure what if anything they are doing about it.

Lamont McClure, the self-proclaimed savior, accuses Stoffa of playing politics, although it is McClure who just ran for Executive and Stoffa is preparing for his departure from government service.

Fake Rev Mario Martinez, who claims the "Gracedale Watchmen are Watching," calls Stoffa a liar. "We looked up the word LIAR in Merriam-Webster's dictionary. And guess what it says a liar is?

John Stoffa."

At the Express Times, posting deceptively as "One Block Down" instead of under her own name, gun nut Tricia Mezzacappa claims, "we have no one to thank for the continued hemoraging [sic], except Ron ANgle, Bernie O'Hare and John Stoffa. Great job men, you really know how to criple [sic] us taxpayers. Thank god one was tossed from public office, and the other, will hopefully have a well publicized walk of shame in January of 2014."

You just can't have rational discussions with these people.

Voters have decided that Gracedale is worth the County contribution. After seeing the facility at a Family Fest last year, and the love that employees have for the residents, I'd agree that it's a special place. I'd even agree that it's worth a County contribution every year. But how much?  $7 million?  $10 million? $15 million? This is the difficult question County Council will have to answer in the next few years. Where is the red line?
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 1, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    There is no red line. I'm not sure why County Council is upset or should be upset.

    The voters voted to keep the place open. As a result, the taxpayers get what they deserve, whether it's profit or major deficits.

    Elections and votes have consequences.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 1, 2013 at 1:36 PM

    The major cause of the shortfall is employee benefits. They add 68 percent to the cost of an employee. This is more than double the average. Obviously, working for the privately managed Gracedale has its perks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 1, 2013 at 2:37 PM

    The so called "Red Line" cannot be determined until a new council and county executive are in office. We need a new set of unbiased eyes to research the operation.

    Face it, Stoffa and Angle wanted this place sold. they ran it into the ground, mocked the service, the employees and even got pro-sale teabaggers elected. The hack Marcus got up and lied for Angle like a trained monkey.

    Their scheme failed. Other than you and the sour grapes crowd, no one trusts anything coming out of this Admisntration regarding Gracedale. So all the packaged doom and gloom stories by Stoffa and his pals at the Easton Excess don't mean anything at this point.

    No one can honestly come up with even the thought of a "red line" until after 2014.

    Reality Now

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 1, 2013 at 6:00 PM

    There is the "Stoffa Line" and then there is reality.

    ReplyDelete

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