Northampton County leaders outline corrective steps after Gracedale downgrade, provisional license issued

County officials on Feb. 5 told Northampton County Council they have started a series of oversight and corrective actions after the county‑owned Gracedale nursing home was downgraded and placed on a six‑month provisional license by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Sue Bridal Lowske, who read a prepared memo to the council, said the facility had 21 Department of Health visits over the past 10 months, resulting in a downgrade to a 1‑star rating on the Nursing Home Compare site and eight survey deficiencies. "These are not good outcomes and we do not intend to gloss over that reality," Bridal Lowske said. She said about half of the cited deficiencies were related to staffing and that the facility has submitted plans of correction that the Department of Health has accepted except for the staffing‑related plan, which remains under implementation.

The county executive (referred to in the record as Tara) described a set of immediate and longer‑term steps intended to improve safety and sustainability at Gracedale, including intensified quality assurance reviews, updated policies and procedures, more rigorous screening and training of staff, unannounced oversight visits by administration representatives, and exploration of a dedicated fiscal overseer for the facility. "We will do everything on earth to make sure that doesn't happen again," the county executive said.

Council members pressed for specifics. Officials said the provisional license period may run up to six months and that one of the most concrete staffing benchmarks discussed was a target of roughly 3.2 direct care hours per patient per day; Bridal Lowske said one recent metric had been 3.18 hours per patient per day. She also reported two elopements and one instance of nurse misconduct among the items cited; because those matters may involve personnel and HIPAA‑protected information, the administration asked the council to move some discussion to executive session.

Administrators agreed to supply documents to council where public disclosure is permitted, including the Department of Health surveys and plans of correction posted on the state website. They said the Gracedale administrator will provide a written status report every two weeks and the administration will coordinate tours and additional oversight. Officials also described evaluating whether the Gracedale advisory board should be reconfigured into a task force focused on implementation and fundraising support through the existing 501(c)(3) or a similar vehicle.

Council voted unanimously to enter an executive session to discuss personnel matters and potential litigation related to Gracedale; the record notes that no formal action was taken in that closed session. The administration asked council members to submit specific follow‑up questions in writing so staff could provide complete answers where permissible. Bridal Lowske and the county executive emphasized that, aside from the staffing plan still under review, other plans of correction have been implemented and accepted by the Department of Health.

Next steps: biweekly administrator reports to council (public portions where allowed), the implementation phase of the approved plans of correction, a mock survey scheduled in February and follow‑up by the Department of Health. The county executive also requested council support for state and federal funding and reimbursement changes to help county‑run nursing homes with high Medicaid/medical assistance populations.