Northampton County to offer cash incentive to nursing home employees to get vaccinated

Northampton County to offer cash incentive to nursing home employees to get vaccinated

By Brad Klein

December 23, 2020

Employees at one of the largest nursing homes in the state will receive a bonus to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Northampton County voted on Friday to offer a cash incentive of $750 each to employees of the Gracedale Nursing Home in Nazareth.

Northampton County Executive – Lamont McClure, addressed the council.

“Lives and livelihoods will be saved by a robust vaccination program in America, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and specifically at Gracedale.”

He went on to say that so far none of the more than 600 staff at the nursing home had been lost to COVID-19.

The one-time payments will be funded by Federal CARES dollars given to the County for use in nursing homes. The County has no plan to mandate the vaccine. And the Nursing home’s administrator says no one’s employment will be affected by opting out.

Sign up for our WLVR weekly newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news from the Lehigh Valley and across Pennsylvania.