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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Cusick Complains About Mandates at Gracedale

John Cusick
At a Northampton County Council committee meeting yesterday, Council member John Cusick complained about the use of mandated overtime at Gracedale.He said that after the last meeting, in which Council was told things were going "swell," he was contacted by several employees who begged to differ. "If they're reaching out to me, that tells you something." he observed, an apparent reference to his previous support for the sale of the nursing home. 

Cusick said failure to fill vacant positions raises "serious morale concerns. ... [W}e need to do a better job." One staffer has told him, "It's not a money issue, it's a quality of life issue." 

Executivre Lamont McClure responded that Gracedale now has a 3 star rating for staffing at Gracedale and that the County is doing everything it can to increase staffing, including tuition reimbursement. He added the state DOH is at Gracedaqle at least once a week on complaints of short staffing. "these complaints are always unsubstantiated" he noted. 

While he agreed that mandating "has always been controversial," he indicated there is little choice when 30-40% of staff uses family leave on any given day. 

He also noted that Gracedale has about 650 workers for about 530 residents. 

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has there been any more discussion about adding assisted living or repurposing sections of the facility.

Anonymous said...

McClure and Administration = Liars

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Has there been any more discussion about adding assisted living or repurposing sections of the facility."

Not recent. This has happened to some of the facility. Over time, the nursing home might become smaller

Anonymous said...

@7:53 am... the McClure administration answered the questions about the challenging situation of staffing at the home. They have had less mandates than Premier when they were running the place. It's challenging times. The few should stop complaining as it drags down the moral of the many who come to work, don't call off and get the job done day in and day out for the residents.

Anonymous said...

Politics suck

Anonymous said...

Moral? Mandates? Are we talking about the Sheriff’s Department or Gracedale?

James Neara said...

While the counties aging population becomes larger. Then what?

Anonymous said...

Mandates cover shifts that are open right? So you guys don't want overtime? Seems like a simple solution....take the overtime away and then that should help the moral. Typical county employees whining about making money.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mr. Cusick for doing your job in this county web of secrecy.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Someone submitted a comment and challenged me to delete it so I did

Anonymous said...

Overtime is something healthcare works depend on for a good income. However mandating on top of the already many hours of overtime takes its toll on everyone. When it is the norm even prior to covid one has to ask what is wrong. A business is not sustainable if the reasons are not addressed. Many nursing homes are well staffed. Why isn't the county home with the best benefits? Why can't they recruit and when they do why is the turnover so high. It's not just people "whining". There is a problem that needs to be solved. Our tax dollars deserve to be handled well. Our residents deserve care.

Anonymous said...

Most Nursing Homes don't have unions/ Pick your poison!

Anonymous said...

Wish Cusick would run for County Executive.

Anonymous said...

I wish more people took an interest in our county home. The conditions for those that live there and the work environment for staff. One day your readers may need the services there. The tax payers pay for it. It should be investigated thoroughly and hold the management accountable to fix the never ending problems there. They held the contract management responsible but if hired by the county they come out like perfect when things are far from perfect I don't want to see it sold but if they can't manage it with a plan they should be replaced with someone who can.

Anonymous said...

I don’t work at Gracedale but I do work elsewhere in the county. Mandations in 24/7 operations are a fact of life when there isn’t enough staffing. There is stiff competition for qualified nurses in extended care since Covid hit. St. Luke’s Health Network is currently offering a $10,000 sign-on bonus for qualified LPNs and Lehigh County pays significantly more hourly to work at Cedarbrook...

Bernie O'Hare said...

I'd agree that salaries for nursing staff need to go up.

Anonymous said...

"mandated overtime" Lazy union mentality