Today's one-liner: “In a republican nation whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance.” T Jefferson
Though Gracedale still has a Provisional II license, it is improving. According to the state's nursing home facility locator, the number of nursing hours per resident per day (PPD) has climbed to 3.76. That is higher than Lehigh County's Cedarbrook (3.61) or Berks County's Berkheim (3.68). It now ranks 5th among 14 county-owned nursing homes throughout the state.
County-wide, this level is second only to Moravian Square (4.51).
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Good to hear, now how do they intend to fund it?
ReplyDeleteWhere does it rank among all nursing homes in the area and in the state? Federal reimbursements are similar. A ranking of 5 in the lowest division is not impressive unless one understands how it ranks among all LTCFs. Am I missing something?
ReplyDeleteAfter the elopement on the weekend AGAIN … it will be back down to a 1 ..Y can’t that facility keep the resident from elopement..
ReplyDeleteI hope this is untrue. If there has been yet another elopement, Gracedale license will not be upgraded, but downgraded from Provisional 2 to 3 or worse. It is required to report itself so there will be a visit. Perhaps your facts are wrong. I will nose around.
DeleteSince the end of the Pandemic Gracedale’s ppd, or average nursing hours per patient day have been consistently above the regulatory average. (3.2). However, starting in late/Summer of ‘25, Michelle Morton’s scheme of switching to one agency nursing staffing company, Toledo, lead to some days where the ppd would drop below average, and some disgruntled employee would call DOH. Morton instituted this scheme, in my opinion, because two of the largest incumbent agencies were overcharging Gracedale and causing an untenable fiscal situation at the nursing home. In my opinion, the intermittent staff shortages Summer/Fall 2025 were due to those two agencies refusing to honor their contracts and supply nurses. Morton was aware that this could happen and was apparently willing to take the risk. From the Independent Audit, it appears it worked as the County contribution was trimmed from 10.3 million to 3.5 million in 2025. 2026 Agency nursing usage rates are way down as a percentage of nursing staff, and even more money is being saved. The home’s financial difficulties caused by, in my opinion, an absentee former administrator and former administrators who over used and over paid agency staff, have been largely corrected. Now if they can figure out how to stop The Walkabouts.
ReplyDeleteThe blog posts about Gracedale will continue until morale improves.
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