Should Kunkel be a monopoly?

[mamastirls25]

Ok here is my 2 cents,,,,,

When scott and i got together he worked at Kunkel. It was a shit pay job. but a job none the less
I had Ethan and scott was at kunkel for quite a while, Ethan was a very sick baby was 2 weeks in the NICU. Kunkel never offered us anything.... just wanted to know when he was coming back to work

He got his critical care card they offered him peanuts for a raise and told him he was replaceable..

Scott is now with Amcare . Scott was with Amcare 2 months when Dalton was born, Dalton was also a sick baby transferred to syracuse

Paul and Joe told scott to be with his family gave him paid leave and offered to send a rig to pick up the baby, did a 50/50 raffle for the baby and put up a poster at work about the baby and called scott EVERYDAY and to this day cares more about our family than kunkel ever did

Yes they are both in it for business but Kunkels care about their car, horses, boats and houses

Amcare cares about their employees PERIOD

[Clipper]

Well said Michelle. Joe Taylor is a great guy and has been totally dedicated to EMS since the early 70's. He worked for Marty Nunn for many years before taking over the service himself. I don't know Paul. I take it he is Joe's partner. Great service ,and has always been one to care for his employees and the community, with benefits, donated services, and whatever they can do to serve people, not themselves.

Dan, all services are able to bill the insurance companies now. Even volunteer ambulances. The money reimbursed by the insurance companies will one way or another be put back into funding the service, or back into a fund that will benefit the taxpayer. Even in Utica, it won't go into Russ Brooks' pocket. Be real.

There is nothing shady about the city running the service. It is done all over the country and with great success. Kunkel is the monkey wrench that is causing all the garbage to flow through the rumor mill, and he hauls a lot of weight with the "council". He is a greedy pain in the ass and always has been.

[Ralph]

Whenever a 911 call is placed for a medical emergency or a car crash, UFD is required by law to respond, and they are almost always the first to arrive on the scene (despite the fact that Kunkel stations their rigs around the city idling their engines which is illegal in itself).

If you cannot afford to pay Kunkels bill, they will hunt you down until they get something from you.
If you cannot afford to pay the UFD bill? When the legislation was first proposed and passed for it, if you couldn't to pay.........it was written off. I can't speak for now, but I was involved in the original legislation.

This was something that had been in the works for well over a decade and was beaten down every time by the Kunkel's. And it was by far nothing out of the ordinary, more cities have an ambulance service than not. Utica just climbs on board years behind everyone else
If the UFD is using it to bolster upcoming retiree's, I cannot say, I would hope not but you never can tell.

I think they should carry on.

[bobbbiez]

As I stated before, the UFD did respond to all calls in the past and "no one" reinversed the city for that service except us taxpayers, so there is no doubt in my mind that they should continue on.

As a long time taxpayer and city resident for 65 yrs I applaud and appreciate our fire department. ;D

UTICA FIRE DEPARTMENT, YOU'RE THE BEST!

[gearofzanzibar]

Feb 4, 2009 0:00:36 GMT -5 Clipper said:

There is nothing shady about the city running the service. It is done all over the country and with great success. Kunkel is the monkey wrench that is causing all the garbage to flow through the rumor mill, and he hauls a lot of weight with the "council". He is a greedy pain in the ass and always has been.

By their own admission, the *only* reason Utica is running an ambulance service is to make a profit. That's the whole reason for the "need" evaluation in the first place.

To me, that's the end of the story. It's repugnant in both an ethical and philosophical sense for a government entity to operate a for-profit enterprise in competition against private industry.

[bobbbiez]

If it's making a profit to benefit us the taxpayer, then so be it!

The only one who benefits from Kunkel IS Kunkel. Guess they never approved of any competition so they ran everyone else out of the ambulance service.

Against the rules to be an monopoly also but I don't hear them complaining about that.

[Clipper]

I you were still paying taxes in the city of Utica, you might not find it as repugnant. If you had known the Kunkels over the years or done business with them, you might actually find them and their business practices equally or more repugnant.

Cities of any size, have a fire department ambulance service all over the country. Private ambulances still do well with THEIR "share" of the calls and the profits.

Every time my mother in law needed an ambulance, we called 911. First to arrive each and every time, was the fire department. They ALWAYS assessed and stabilized my mother in law, and had her ready to package for transport when the ambulance from Kunkel arrived. They did the work, Kunkel started and IV and transported. Sometimes with a fireman in the rig with them to assist. Who billed us? Kunkel. Who made a profit on the time that the firefighter had invested in the call, and for the excellent care that the fire department provided? Kunkel.

It is this kind of political bullshit that makes me stop and wonder if I really "can't wait to come home" and if I do, whether I want to live in Utica or in the Rome area instead.

[rrogers40]

Wow from all this talk you would think that Kunkel was going out of business or something like that because of the UFD's Ambulances. Obviously they are not- so whats the problem?