Is Gracedale understaffed? That was a major point of discussion at Northampton County council’s April 4 meeting.

According to statistics maintained by Medicare and published online, the staffing at Gracedale is considered “average” in a nursing home that otherwise has below average grades. The nurses who work there, however, insist the facility needs more workers. They’ve been pretty vocal about it in recent NorCo Council meetings.

County administrators agree. “We know we need more staff,” said Human Services Director Sue Wandalowski at Council’s Apr 4 session. “It’s the worst it’s ever been.”

Wandalowski’s remarks were in response to complaints made by several nurses who quickly turned to money. Registered nurses insist they need larger paychecks. Union rep Valerie Mikula, who has worked at the nursing home as an RN since 2001, said the $26.65 hourly salary is far too low, well below the $33 per hour starting salary paid at other long-term care facilities.

In addition to this hourly rate, registered nurses are paid a “professional premium” of $1.50 per hour on weekdays and $5.00 per hour on weekends. As part of contract negotiations, Executive Lamont McClure has offered to pay more money to nurses for showing up to work.But Mikula argued this offer is too low. She added the facility has failed to attract a single RN over the past year because of the low wages.

Wandalowski suggested there’s another reason for this staffing shortage. Call offs, or workers who take sic or family leave. At Gracedale, call-offs are about twice what they are at other 24/7 operations like 911 and the jail. She suggested it’s possible that employees are gaming the system to pull in more overtime. Executive Lamont McClure has said that 30% of the staff are absent every day, and has asked whether any business can be run under those circumstances.

The county recently made changes to its policy concerning per diem worker Those are part-time workers who must work at least one shift every six months. That policy was changed to require that they work at least four shifts per month, including one weekend shift. In addition, they must work at least one holiday. As a result of these changes, 84 per diem workers either quit or were terminated.

Wandalowski also addressed the issue of resident falls. When a resident falls, staff must wait for an RN to assess the situation to ensure there is no injury. She agreed with a nurse who complained that one resident was on the floor for too long after a fall, but denied it was a 30-minute wait. She called it a “very isolated incident.”

She also addressed mandated overtime. In response to a nurse who complained about receiving frequent requests to work overtime, Wandalowski said an employee can set preferences to eliminate these notifications. She said that from January through March, only 16 people were mandated to work as a result of 283 call-offs.

Several members of Council reported Gracedale visits over the past two weeks. Tara Zrinski, Bill McGee and Kevin Lott were all there. While Zrinski said she thought it was “depressing,” Lott and McGee were impressed by the cleanliness.

Zrinski said that, given the environment, the frequent call-offs are justified. Lott argued pay should be higher for experienced RNs, but Executive Lamont McClure said that issue is governed by the union contract.

In the meantime, RNs are working without a contract and pondering a strike.