MetroCare COO Resigns

[WAS967 97]

Newsday.com - New York Politics

Ambulance exec resigns

BY WILLIAM MURPHY

STAFF WRITER

Steve Zakheim, a major campaign contributor who was able to put his private

ambulance company on the 911 system, has resigned.

Zakheim, facing federal charges for illegal campaign contributions, recently

relinquished his role as chief operating officer of MetroCare Ambulance,

which is now owned by TransCare, a private company, TransCare said.

TransCare officials declined to say why he left, but one source close to the

matter said Zakheim's legal troubles endangered the company's intricate

relationship with the city.

"They didn't want to let him endanger what is a cash cow," said the source,

who asked not to be identified.

The company contracts with private hospitals to operate 911 ambulances that

sometimes take patients back to those hospitals, but the Fire Department has

to authorize the company's entry into the 911 emergency response system.

The company yesterday declined to discuss any details about Zakheim's

departure.

"We wish him and his family all the best as he begins this new chapter in

his life," TransCare chief executive Matthew Harrison said in a statement.

A federal criminal complaint alleges that Zakheim got his employees to

donate to political campaigns in the late 1990s as "straw dogs." The workers

would send a check to the campaign and Zakheim would write them a personal

check for the same amount.

None of the politicians who got the donations, including former Mayor

Rudolph Giuliani, has been accused of wrongdoing. Zakheim got his ambulances

onto the 911 system during Giuliani's tenure.

Zakheim has pleaded not guilty, and has contested civil charges that he

scammed Medicare of $34 million for ambulance runs that did not qualify for

federal reimbursement.

A lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, where MetroCare has its

headquarters, alleging he sexually harassed female employees, was settled

out of court.

[Remember585 815]

I bet these contributions are the reason MANY OF US whom did or currently DOES work for MetroCare never saw any decent pay increases......... :-k

[Mofire24 27]

Hense all the employees that use to work in westcom

[WAS967 97]

The layoffs of the employees at WestCom was an unfortunate side effect of corporate restructuring on the part of Air Methods. It is cheaper to centralize the dispatching in Tennessee? than to have little dispatch centers scattered all about.

[STAT213 332]

Actually, the loss of Westcom was due to WMC not having the dough for its own dispatch center. LifeCom is not the best option out there, but it shore is cheap. (And, its in Nebraska.)

[STAT213 332]

Actually, the loss of Westcom was due to WMC not having the dough for its own dispatch center. LifeCom is not the best option out there, but it sure is cheap. (And, its in Nebraska.)

[Mofire24 27]

Stat 213 how is your dispatching now that they have made it one dispatch center in nebraska i am sure you dont get the service you use to when westcomm was up when i worked there it was a pleasure there in westcomm everyone was great.

[STAT213 332]

MoFire,

I have actually retired from STAT...The interactions I have had with Life Com have been luke warm at best. I still fly with an agency that interacts with them from time to time on a mutual aid basis. From what I have seen, they are professional but a little slow to get things rolling when a request comes in, and not knowing the geography of their flight programs is a real hindrance. More than once, I have seen them send the wrong a/c to a call. I have also bumped into some interesting policies on them not giving out a/c locations and ETA's. Having the people on site as with WESTComm was fabulous, (except of course when Munson was dozing for dollars there!!! ) Does LifeComm work? Sure. Would those of us flying around like to always have a comm center at home. Heck ya. By the way, they also dispatch for EMS and Fire out of Nebraska. I am sure they would be happy to take over for any agency anywhere in the states. Hope that info helps.

Rob

[Guest WCDES636]

Mo,

1.) You should know who 213 is and that he is no longer there.

2.) You slept as much if not more than Munson. Although you were there more!

Signal 4, signal 9, signal 9....... HIKE!!!!!!!!!

[Mofire24 27]

I know who 213 is ITS our all time Favorite flight medic HAPPY PANTS. Westcom was a nice place to rest not sleep there is no sleeping there remember 636.

I was there more than munson alot of the time working for him right JM

[Guest WCDES636]

MoFo,

I dont know about you , but I slept there whenever I had the chance.

But yes it is sad for the crews that they have to deal with LifeComm. I hear it every day, the crap service that they get from the knuckle heads in Omaha.

[Mofire24 27]

636 i was trying to be politically correct i slept just as much especially on the over nights and the ocasional nap after the head honcho's left for the day i hear the dispatch everyonce in a while and it is bad and it seems like it takes twice the time to get a bird but what can we do

[Mofire24 27]

Dave I have an idea lets start our own dispatch company we have the experience call it davecom and dispatch statflight

[STAT213 332]

Happy Pants? I got your freakin Happy Pants. All most of you ever did in there was sleep. 636 and I did have some good nights though, hanging out and solving the problems of the world. That and me learning all about SWAFA.

Fun times.

[Mofire24 27]

Yes 636 is a very knowledgable person i also learned alot from but if i recall correctly you did alot of sleeping yourself never mind the westcom sleeping. You also had a bed if i am not mistaken lol

[WAS967 97]

http://www.villagevoice.com/print/issues/0...25/robbins2.php

Pol's pal faked donations

Ambulance Chaser

by Tom Robbins

June 22nd, 2004 11:00 AM

In his heyday, former ambulance mogul Steve Zakheim liked to give

politicians the royal treatment when they visited the Brooklyn headquarters

of MetroCare, the big emergency transport company he founded.

Elected officials would be ushered into the company's conference room to

give brief speeches to staffers. Zakheim would then hand over a stack of

individual checks of $1,000 and $1,500 apiece, which he said represented

support from his admiring employees. Last month, however, Zakheim, 49,

quietly admitted in court that the routine was just for show. It was really

his own money disguised to avoid donation limits, he acknowledged, and he

had reimbursed his workers after asking them to write the checks.

Zakheim's guilty plea comes seven months after he was charged in Brooklyn

federal court with funneling $32,500 in phony contributions to the

senatorial campaigns of Rudy Giuliani and Chuck Schumer, as well as the

congressional races of Noach Dear and Melinda Katz. The complaint stated

that Zakheim routed $10,500 in disguised contributions to Giuliani, then a

candidate for the U.S. Senate. Giuliani, the complaint noted, made a

personal fundraising appearance at Zakheim's offices in March 1999. Several

months later, the complaint noted, MetroCare was designated by the Giuliani

administration as the first private ambulance firm allowed to respond

directly to 911 calls.

Citing personal reasons, Zakheim stepped down in April from MetroCare, which

is now owned by a national firm, TransCare. Zakheim's departure came two

weeks after the Voice revealed that he had settled a lawsuit brought by 10

current and former female employees accusing him of sexual harassment ("The

Boss Will See You Now," March 24-30). He faces up to six months in prison

when he is sentenced in August on the election fraud charge.