Northampton County Council is poised to add personnel costs at Gracedale, the county nursing home. The personnel committee yesterday accepted Executive John Brown's recommendation to add two full-time and three part-time housekeepers for the afternoon shift. Currently, there are no housekeepers on the afternoon shift. Deputy Administrator Cathy Allen told Council that the housekeepers would be used for "bigger projects."
In addition, Council's Personnel Committee accepted Brown's recommendation to increase the LPN per diem rate from $24 to $28 per hour in order to be competitive. LPNs in the per diem pool are limited to 950 hours per year.
Council President John Cusick questioned the wisdom of adding staff at Gracedale when the unaudited first quarter report shows that the nursing home is already $1.7 million in the red. Controller Steve Barron countered that it is only because Gracedale is waiting for reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid.
Cusick also complained about per diem nurses being unionized. A teacher in New Jersey, he noted that substitute teachers in his district are never compelled to join a union. But Deputy Administrator Cathy Allen noted that the only reason the County was able to establish a per diem pool for LPNs is because AFSCME, the collective bargaining agent for most employees at Gracedale, agreed.
The full Council will vote on both of these measures tonight.
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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Thursday, May 19, 2016
13 comments:
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WE all know the Cusick agenda. he is a full fledged member of the "dump Gracedale" team. Hey Bernie maybe the dream of you Stoffa and Angle may eventually come to pass and you will get your wish of dumping Gracedale. Anyone that trusts these teabags to not try and dump it, is nuts.
ReplyDeletePipe down. Gracedale is why we can't have nice things like bridges that aren't deficient. Most counties have gotten out of the nursing home business. I guess they like safe bridges.
ReplyDeleteReally so an elderly person live is worth less than a bridge, the budgets that these officials set out for include the funding for repair but the state like pendot take care of bridges,that's something you should call the state about and stop ranting about the best care home in the area serving the very people who's tax dollars went to support gracedale and the people now have a place to go and get great care,the private home suck money from elderly people and bill insurance companies with false treatment in turn they run out of money and end up I'm gracedale. Meanwhile the county still foots a bill from private care facilities in your tax Dollars as where they run these people dry and kick them out on the street to be homeless then come to gracedale so with more homeless elderly where do they go? You speak of a bridge laughing out Loud call the state for your bridge
DeleteVote some of these tea party dirt bags out next year!!!
ReplyDeleteGracedale is the elephant that needs to be sold to a private circus. I am not or should be expected to pay for someone's parents that drained mom and dad's accounts and dumped them there. It needs to be sold and put the money in the back into county infrastructure that serves everyone not the few that sucked the parents bank dry.
ReplyDeleteNo the private nursing homes suck dry the money,and these residents paid for the care they now have,the private nursing homes suck their money dry and dump them in gracedale and when they get "dumped" in gracedale they live it here because they are treated with dignity and respect on a low budget because people like yourself forget that the residents in gracedale paid the tax and right for a place to retire to and paid taxes for future home owners that want to live in the county if you can't afford the taxes you should move to a cheaper county
DeleteWow! A Cathy Allen sighting!It must be spring time for sure. Listen to Barron as he knows where the money comes and goes. Cusick is useless.
ReplyDeleteGracedale is no competition for private hones it is however an insurance policy for all citizens of the county. Unfortunately the "Great L:ie" that was sold to people by the terrible trio still rings loud forthe teabaggers. That will be the legacy of the executive that tried to dump the place.
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on anon 1:46.
ReplyDeleteMy tax dollars shouldn't be for someone else's nursing home care at the county tax payer level. The place could do a better job with when its made privately owned and run. Rid us of the tax payer trough feeder's working there and the elderly people that in every other county get better care at a private center. Because the low life's want to suck the parents dry them dump them there isn't for my money being anyone else's "insurance policy". Just shows what arrogant thiefs they are to do that with their parents.
ReplyDeleteThe private nursing homes around the area suck. these poor people are sucked dry with terrible care and they run out of money, then they come to gracedale and get treated with the best care around! all the residents say they like it there so much better, yet the staff at gracedale are underpaid taking care of the elderly people of Northhampton county deficiency free note that other facilities are horrible this is another reason to keep it county owned.
DeleteWhy does know one care about there tax dollars goin for the scum in prison but the elderly who have lived their lives and paid their taxes to the county get all the wrath
ReplyDeleteGracedale is a much needed facility in the county to know when you get old and are not able to care for yourself and cant afford it you have a place to live
Because the scum in prison are their relatives so they need some way to support them. But complain about the elderly who paid taxes their whole lives and earned the right for a place to gracedale while private nursing homes are sucking the elderly Dry and they all end up at gracedale in the long run. What about all the people on welfare and food stamps in Northampton County What about all the public housing in Northampton County? So it's okay for the county to pay for drug addicts to live for free eat for free get health care for free don't pay taxes too live off the county and taxpayers to pay for them to beat the system and drive around in expensive cars expensive clothes while on welfare and food stamps and Free Housing. And the elderly of gracedale should be privatized to be abused and not cared for and you complain about your taxes going to gracedale the elephant that should be sold or all the people on welfare beating the system not the elderly who paid their taxes years and years and years ago so they have a safe place to live when they can't care for themselves
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