Jennifer Stewart was Gracedale's Administrator between for nearly six years between 2019 and 2024, She had been employed at the nursing home in various capacities since 2005. In late 2024, former NorCo Exec Lamont McClure removed her from her position as Administrator to Admissions Coordinator. He told County Council that he did this "because there hasn't been a county contribution [to the nursing home] from the general fund for many years. ... One of the things that we think is necessary in order to continue to be viable as a county-owned and operated institution is to continue not to have county contributions coming from the general fund..... Jennifer Stewart is an expert at getting the census up."
What he failed to tell County Council at that time was that there was a simmering crisis in which monies that had been set aside for retention bonuses were spent instead on other Gracedale expenditures. What he also failed to tell Council was that Gracedale actually did get a county contribution of $9.9 million in 2024, a point highlighted by the annual independent audit.
It appears that Jennifer Stewart, an unusual and special kind of person who actually cares about the residents, was scapegoated and sent to Admissions.
She only remained at Gracedale a year, and currently is Administrator at Bethlehem North Nursing and Rehab Center, a four-star facility.
24 comments:
Who would have guess? Just another smoke and mirrors politician.
Standard operating procedures for McClure. The guy is a walking disaster who probably destroyed Gracedale.
Wow. Lamont is the lowest form of slithering reptile that can be observed in public life. Lawyers ..
She’s collecting her full retirement pay, and she’s making big money in the private sector. Sounds like a soft landing. Good for her !
The more that comes out the worse it looks for Lamont. He does not belong in congress.
I have worked with Jennifer Stewart for many years and can attest to her kindness and competence. She is a true professional in a field where the levels of ability vary widely. I never once saw her make a decision at Gracedale that did not have the residents and employees needs at the heart of the decision. What a crazy difficult place to manage! And she did it with grace and aplomb.
McClure was a micro-managing bully. All the good things he did is now tainted by his poor financial management decisions, and there is more to come. Zrinski can't hide this mismanagement of the County Finances. What McClure has done with the mismanagement of County Finances borders on criminal. He circumvented the County's Home Rule Charter and Administrative Code and violated Council mandates as they pertain to the budget. Zrinski should not have hired him in the Solicitors Office. She should turn all this mismanagement information over to the Attorney General's Office to see if his actions are criminal or just poor management.
Well it's a dog eat dog world. Guessing you're gonna start telling the truth about Lamont and the way this county was run.
And let's not forget about our boy Kenny sitting up there as president of council. You know the one Lamont appointed to a position so he could get a nice little salary for a couple years and get a nice pension from the county. Why did Kenny leave that job at the jail???
Lamonts finger prints are still all over this county and Tara kept all the players in the same position. She doesn't realize that is exactly what Lamont wanted so when the SH-T hits the fan finally they will all be in the same spots but with just a new person sitting on top of the pile.
McClure and Stewart King were professionally close for years. It is unsurprising, that he would not publicly throw her under the bus.
Jen was the King of Admissions. It’s no surprise, desperate for revenue they’d turn to her to get the census up.
It took me a long time to make up my mind about her, but I agree that she really cares about the people she serves and that's a rare quality to be treasured, not discarded. I am disgusted to hear from others that Gracedale administrators continue to scapegoat her instead of looking at themselves.
He doesn't belong anywhere near this county. Not in any fashion. Tara needs to fire or release or what ever is his relationship with this county she needs to cut him lose now!!!!!
Tara please do this for yourself, he can't hurt you anymore then he has. I understand you might be over your head but get people around you that are there to first help the residents of northampton County and second to help you do the best job for the county. The people you have now are just trying to cover the tracks and keep the truth from coming out.
It’s interesting to now read articles back from January, 2019, about Gracedale. They reference 2011, $6 million in county contribution to Gracedale to it breaking even in 2016 with a five star rating under the administrative control of Premier . Deficiency free inspections too noted on the nursing home state site back in 2015-16 . Enter Lamont McClure and his fulfillment of a campaign promise to bring Gracedale back under county management. His reasoning then because “they(Premier) got a little too heavily weighted on the fiscal side” and that affected “employee morale “. It was rumored that the second Premier administrator was no comparison to the previous one, but it was hardly a surprise to many that a then newly licensed Jennifer Stewart King was then appointed temporarily as administrator and then permanent administrator of Gracedale by Lamont in 2019. A kind heart does nothing to help one administrate a large facility if one doesn’t have the experience and learned skills to do so. What wasn’t predictable probably for Jen was to be taken out of the administrator position and placed back into admissions several years later. Now Gracedale is a one star facility, provisional license with an abuse warning. What a terrible mess Lamont made. He then tried to clean it up at the expense of people. Wonder if Tara will figure out that she’s been used too? Or maybe she has but doesn’t care.
Ding, Ding, Ding! With Tara Zrinski, we'll get much much more of that. Not only is she unqualified, she's not very bright. She's best at glad handing.
Lamont McClure was the BEST County Executive the county ever had. Your just all haters.
A Personal injury atty. at that- the absolute worst human beings.
And don't forget Barron. He was up to his neck in the mismanagement as well. And remember how when anyone would ask questions he would puff out his
big gut and say "you can't rely on those unaudited figures" But Mr. Barron, this report came from your office. He knew to get out of Dodge as fast as he could.
Barron , McClure, and Zirinsky, knew that designated government transfer funds were being commingled with the General fund for years,. They methodically explained this away every budget season review as above board and legal. All three were complicit in their deceit to the council and public on how these funds were to be managed. It will be interesting to hear now, where the $9 million went , who determined why, and if Tara will ever be able to invent any funding programs to make up for the funding loss along with recruiting a Fiscal Affairs person for Gracedale.
The term “best” being based upon best at deception, best at bullying, best at holding taxes down at the expense of bettering staff needs or adequately improving funding for Gracedale Stealthfully manipulating funds to give the impression all was well .
and you need professional help!
Agreed with putting an admissions nurse who passed the mha license into that position was totally unfair. She was not qualified and in a position to have to do what the executive wanted her too. However you play game you will lose.
What is the Director of Human Services position on these issues?
It will be over soon McClure
Jen was a true gem for Gracedale. Kind, compassionate, smart I worked with her and truly loved the love she had for Gracedale. The uppers there soured her. Michelle Morton was clearly jealous of her and did all she could to make Jen's final bit of time there difficult. The then, County Council was no better to her. The county council the largest collection of uninformed, obtuse elected officials who had no idea what they had in Jen ubtil she was gone. She is missed and a one star rating shows it.
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