Northampton County official says Gracedale overspent ARPA funds; council demands answers

Lamont McClure, county executive, told Northampton County Council on June 5 that an internal review of Gracedale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center found excessive agency staffing and overtime spending in 2024 that contributed to a budget shortfall.

McClure said the county received an invoice for $75,000 that he called “a scam,” and described how American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars flowed into the county general fund and then to Gracedale without legally or administratively earmarking specific line items. “Because the money was not earmarked, it was spent to pay monthly operating expenses, especially excessive agency costs and overtime without my knowledge,” McClure said.

The report presented to council singled out high patient-per-day (PPD) nursing-hour levels in 2024 and extensive agency usage. McClure said the PPD target was 3.4 hours but climbed to about 3.8–3.9 in 2024; he said that overuse of agency staff and agency overtime was “more expensive on top of more expensive” pay and that the prior administration had not enforced directives to reduce PPD. “At some point in 2024, the staff development director assumed responsibility for scheduling agency nursing,” McClure said. “It appears that several agency staff members were given preferential treatment, in our opinion.”

McClure described steps the county has taken since hiring a new Gracedale administrator in March 2025: returning agency scheduling to the director of nursing, cutting career-service overtime, and increasing census from about 450 to roughly 500 residents. He provided several quantitative figures: 104 residents were listed as Medicaid-pending with an average approval time of about 325 days, leaving approximately $5,540,000 in outstanding accounts receivable; the PPD for May 2025 was 3.37.

Council members pressed McClure on whether fiscal affairs or county leadership should have known earlier about the spending pattern. Council member Tom Giovanni and others argued the county had months of closed books and should have detected the shifts sooner; Giovanni asked why $8,000,000 had appeared outside Gracedale’s budget in unaudited financials. McClure said investigations and personnel reviews required time and that many corrective steps began in 2024.

Several council members asked for an executive session to review personnel matters and disciplinary actions referenced in the report; county solicitor advised that personnel issues may require executive session and recommended including the human resources director when that meeting occurs.

The council’s debate ranged from demands for immediate transparency to defense of ongoing corrective work. McClure summarized how the funds were disbursed: “It all went to the employees. All the money was paid to the employees,” he said, describing overtime and retention payments as the primary expenditures. Several council members said they remain skeptical and requested the controller’s audit and a full accounting in executive session.

The council did not take a formal vote on Gracedale funding or personnel at the meeting; members scheduled further committee and executive-session follow-up to review audit findings and personnel issues.

The presentation and council responses highlighted three distinct threads for follow-up: the county’s ARPA accounting practices; internal personnel and scheduling controls at Gracedale; and the long Medicaid-approval timelines that delay reimbursement.

McClure and the council agreed to continue the review in committee and executive session as allowed by statute. Council members also asked that the controller, whose audit work prompted many questions, and the human resources director be present for the personnel briefing.