As many readers of this blog are aware, I have been highly critical of the way that the county administration has responded to problems at Gracedale, our publicly owned nursing home. While it particularly bothers me to see elder abuse or neglect at a publicly owned facility, it can also happen in more private settings that get less attention. A case in point is Moravian Hall Square, which is often held up as the gold standard that everyone else should try to emulate. While that might be generally true, Nazareth police have charged a CNA employed there with elder abuse (abuse of a care dependent person).
According to the online blotter known as Crimewatch, "On September 10, 2026, at 10:34 AM, Nazareth Police responded to a report of elder abuse at Moravian Hall Square, located at 175 North Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the reporting party, who stated that a resident's husband had reported observing bruises on his wife's body in the area of her wrist. An internal investigation was conducted by Moravian Hall Square staff, resulting in the accused being placed on administrative leave pending further notice. The police were subsequently contacted, and an investigation was launched, involving interviews with the alleged offender and others connected to the incident. The Northampton County District Attorney's office was notified of the allegations. Following the completion of the investigation, charges were filed against the accused individual.
The accused indicidual is Lindsey Roberts, age 43. According to LinkedIn, Roberts is a CNA at Moravian Hall Square.
Interestingly, I am unable to locate this case in the Unified Judicial System Portal.
Hopefully that is now “was” a CNA at Moravian Hall Square. High standards should be in place whether it’s Moravian Hall Square, Gracedale or somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteMakes the Gracedale Administration’s cover up look even worse.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how you vet and hire you will have abuse. I am sorry to say that but its a fact. If you see any wrongdoing that doesnt rise to abuse but is questionable those need to be handled and the employee disciplined or terminated The issue is how you handle it when abuse happens and you've followed all the regs related to hiring and training. This appears to have not been handled in house properly. I wish to defend the police because they get many calls and if facility management tells them its OK and not to come they dont. This became an issue because supervisory staff apparently called them off without checking or chose to try to handle in house. Both were wrong choices of course. No one wants these things to happen and it is horrifying when they do but the priority always needs to be the patient and any facility repercussions come second to that in the decision making process.
ReplyDeleteThis must be the new breed of caregivers because it was NOT like that in the recent past. Expecting that it’s just how it is must be in line with Tara thinking the public can’t comprehend a clear and concise grand jury report.
DeleteUnfortunately abuse is not new. Thankfully few and far between but been happening for years. As a federal and state surveyor in PA I saw it all.
DeleteI see you contradicting your original statement. First basically say "no matter what you do, you will have abuse". Then you say "thankfully it's few and far between". I've been in the business for 20 years and have never once had a report filed by family. You are doing a disservice to agencies and facilities that do a good job at vetting and hiring. It's unfortunate that people like you can muddy the waters with statements such as the one you made. It would be like a cop saying "everyone drives drunk and I know this because I catch drunk drivers all the time"
DeletePeople like me took care of elderly residents for my entire life 24/7.
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