Under Gracedale's Former Administrator, Home Was Cited Six Times

At last week's Human Services Committee meeting, NorCo Council member Kelly Keegan effusively praised Gracedale Administrator Michelle Morton for the "great job" she was doing. She was apparently unaware that at the time she was extolling Morton, the Administrator had already made plans to resign. She has since done so, making the county's nursing home the 23rd different job she's held since 1983. 

Morton was employed at the county from mid-March to mid-November, just eight months. It's hard to believe that someone who quit almost as soon as she started would know or care much about retention. But did she do a "great job"? The state's department of health was there almost as often as she was and found six instances in which Gracedale was out of compliance with regulations providing for proper nursing at Medicare and Medicaid long-term care facilities. 

4/16/25: The home was found to have failed to treat stage 4 pressure ulcers (bedsores) on the back of one resident, and footcare for another resident. 

6/25/25: Three residents suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of a mentally unbalanced agency LPN who thought she was performing an exorcism. She was alone in a room with these three residents for two hours with no supervision. It was actually a resident, and not Gracedale, who called 911. (I wrote in detail about this yesterday.) 

8/1/25 to 8/10/25: Gracedale failed to provide the minimum nursing care of 3.2 hours per resident per day on August 9 and August 10. 

9/19/25: A resident with a propensity for wandering and who consistently removed his alert bracelet was supposed to be checked on every 15 minutes. He left the facility and was found four hours later by police about a mile away from the home. 

9/25/25: Another resident with dementia and a history of wandering was supposed to be checked on every 15 minutes. He left the facility on September 20. He was located by police on September 21, 2025 at 6:52 a.m., at a convenience store approximately two miles from the facility and was taken to the emergency room for evaluation. He was returned to the facility at 9:30 a.m. Review of facility documentation revealed that the resident's assigned 1:1 staff member left the assignment at 8:00 p.m. on September 20, 2025, and was not replaced. The resident was left unsupervised and did not have 1:1 observation, per his physician's order and care plan.

10/2/25: Another resident eloped and was "in immediate jeopardy." I have written about that incident here. 

Based on a reader's suggestion, I looked at inspection reports for Lehigh County's Cedarbrook over the same eight months. I found just one failed inspection for missing or damaged privacy curtains in one nursing unit.