BETHLEHEM, Pa. – As state regulators raise serious concerns about operations at Gracedale, Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski spelled out an ambitious plan to turn around and transform the county-owned nursing home within the next decade.
That vision calls for a new skilled nursing home with almost 700 beds, renovating the current facility into apartments for residents to age in place, and developing workforce housing and retail space on the 365-acre property that houses the facility.
“This plan includes keeping Gracedale county-owned and county-operated,” she said after unveiling the “first hint” of her plan last week at her first State of the County address as executive. “There will be no privatization on this administration's watch.”
The nursing home, one of the largest nursing homes in Pennsylvania, has operated below full capacity for several years due to ongoing staffing shortages. Its rating was downgraded this year by Medicare to just one star.
And it’s now operating on a six-month provisional license from the state Department of Health after a string of violations.
The facility was cited in January for failing to meet those ratios during a visit by state inspectors.
And it received seven citations last year, including one that was issued after an agency nurse was accused of trying to exorcise “demons” from a resident.
Octavia Robinson, 44, of Morristown, New Jersey, was charged a year ago with abuse of a care-dependent person and simple assault, among other charges. She is scheduled to stand trial in October.
Northampton County relies heavily on a pool of nurses from staffing agencies to maintain a prescribed ratio of nurses to residents at Gracedale – and pays them much more than county employees who work there.
Zrinski hopes Northampton County can partner with local nursing programs to bolster its staff and end its dependence on outside agencies for residents’ medical care as part of her vision for a “new Gracedale.”
Improving the county-owned nursing home and its finances were major planks of Zrinski’s campaign for executive last year.
Stabilizing Gracedale could pay dividends for Northampton County’s bottom line, Zrinski said.
“That would save us $14 million … a year or more,” she told Lehigh Valley Public Media.
Billion-dollar price tag?
The county this spring established the Gracedale Continuum of Care department and several new positions to bolster the facility’s operations.
The department’s director will be tasked with overseeing the facility and its services while developing a long-term plan to expand the campus, according to the job description approved by council.
That expansion could include affordable housing, tiny home communities and “other innovative housing and service models,” the description states.
The ambitious plan “doesn’t just address the Gracedale issue, it also addresses the affordable housing issue,” the executive said. “We’re really trying to utilize our resources to shore up the system that has caused a lot of problems in a lot of different areas of our human services.”
The “multiphase adventure” would take several years to complete, Zrinski said, noting she’d need a second term to see the project through.
And it could come with a sky-high price tag.
“It’s going to be a multi-(hundred)-million-dollar project, if not a billion-dollar project,” Zrinski said after unveiling the “first hint” of her plan last week at her first State of the County address.
She is optimistic the county can offset a significant portion of the cost with support from Lehigh Valley companies.
“You get sponsorships for programs like this. Why can’t we get sponsorships for a tiny home from each of these companies” at the speech, she said. “We just have to ask the right questions … to the right people.”
But she acknowledged she’ll have to work to earn Northampton County Council’s support for her vision, though eight of its nine members are fellow Democrats.
“That’s a roll of the dice,” Zrinksi said. “I really thought going into this administration that — with a council that was so heavy-Democrat — that we would be able to do some very bold and progressive action in the county.”
“I don't know,” she said. “I'm still going to put the idea out there, and we will let the people decide.”