Adams Ambulance board members review a change in bylaw with EMT Hussein Hamdan to elect two new members on Tuesday, one of several votes taken by the membership.
Adams Ambulance Votes to Keep Operating; Cheshire Switches to NB EMS
ADAMS, Mass. — The members of Adams Ambulance Service voted on Tuesday to continue to operate even as Cheshire moved to replace it as the primary provider of emergency services.
The ambulance service earlier this month notified the Department of Public Health that it would cease operations on Dec. 31 because of its financial condition.
But last week, employees appealed to a joint meeting of the three towns in the service's coverage area to delay a vote to shift to Northern Berkshire EMS. There was a plan, they said, to sell their building, replenish the accounts and continue operating.
The towns did delay, at least until Tuesday night when the Cheshire Select Board voted 5-0 to transition to Northern Berkshire EMS as the primary provider. The Adams Selectmen are scheduled to vote on Thursday; the Savoy Select Board has not yet scheduled any vote.
"There's just too many unknowns, there's a lot of questions that haven't been answered," said Cheshire Select Board Chair Shawn McGrath on Wednesday. "Northern Berkshire has a strong state-approved plan in place to expand and absorb the needs of the town."
Officials in the three towns have been concerned about gaps in coverage when, or if, AAS should close. In their letter to DPH, the service's board had indicated that the ambulance might close before the end of the year.
About 20 members of Adams Ambulance — households that have subscribed or donated to the service and a number of seemingly current or past employees — met in one of the service's bays on Tuesday to determine whether it was feasible to keep going. They decided it was.
Their plans hinge on the sale of the building that will zero out the service's more than $200,000 deficit and the $80,000 left of the mortgage. President Fred Balawender said the interested buyer's promised a 20-year lease at a "nominal" feel.
If they can start fresh, the next steps are to be more aggressive in recouping delinquent payments, actively go after grants and ask the towns for financial support.
The key component is if the state allows the operation to continue. Balawender said the board had requested in writing that the letter it sent earlier this month be rescinded.
One member noted it could take several years for resolve the situation. "What stops us from doing this all over again in five years?" she asked.
The board members acknowledged it could take time and that a more lasting solution would be reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid that matched the cost.
Another factor is the number of non-transport calls that can't be billed. These are often for wellness checks, for instance someone has fallen and needs help getting up. Insurance can't be billed and often the people getting the service are in not in a situation to pay anything.
"That's part of the cost the town's could absorb ... because the town residents are getting the services," said EMT Michael Mullany. "The reality right now in the forseeable future is we have to do that. We have no other option ... we can't leave someone lying on the floor who can't pay for an ambulance."
The nonprofit also voted in two new members by ballot to fill out its five-member board. However, candidates Ray Ferrin and Sam Hungate had recently been employed by the ambulance so a vote was taken to strike out the portion of the bylaw stating an employee must be separated for at least a year before serving on the board.
It also voted for three resolutions for the board 1) to take all "reasonable and feasible steps" to keep the service operating, 2) to go forward with the membership drive and 3) to enter into negotiations for the sale of the building with terms of at least a five-year lease.
The membership drive letters will go out and Tracy Cameron reported on her efforts for a drive-through spaghetti fundraiser through Bounti-Fare. She said she's received a lot of supportive comments on social media but had not sold many tickets yet.
There was a long discussion about Hawley, which subscribes with the AAS for coverage. Northern Berkshire has indicated it will not take over coverage of Hawley and that other closer towns such as Charlemont are in a better position to do so. Hawley Select Board member Hussain Hamdan, an EMT with Adams, said this will cause a problem for his community.
In the meantime, Northern Berkshire EMS is moving ahead with its state-approved preparations to staff at least one ambulance in Adams and a possible one in Cheshire. It also has been coordinating with the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office for dispatch services.
McGrath said residents should know that response times in Cheshire won't change much and that the board felt it was making the prudent decision. He assumed that Adams officials would be doing their own due diligence before voting.
"We just didn't want to wake up one day and say, 'oh, we need to scramble and backfill coverage because Adams decided all our plans,'" he said. "They have a lot of hoops to jump through as it is because they have to get their original notice rescinded that they were closing ... there's just a lot of operational changes that need to be made that we don't really have firm answers as to how those changes would be made or what changes would be made."
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A Rare Bird: Koperniak Stands Out in Triple-A
By Frank MurtaughThe Memphis (Tenn.) Flyer
With Major League Baseball’s September roster expansion just around the corner, Berkshire County baseball fans will be watching to see whether 2016 Hoosac Valley High School graduate Matt Koperniak gets the call from the St. Louis Cardinals. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, Koperniak had 125 hits this summer for the Cards’ Triple A affiliate, the Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds. He is hitting .309 this season with 17 home runs. In his minor league career, he has a .297 batting average with 56 homers after being signed as a free agent by St. Louis out of Trinity College in 2020. This week, sportswriter Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer profiled Koperniak for that publication. Murtaugh’s story appears here with the Flyer’s permission.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- I’ve interviewed professional baseball players for more than two decades. There are talented players who, honestly, aren’t that interesting away from the diamond. They’re good ballplayers, and baseball is what they know. There are also very interesting baseball players who aren’t all that talented. Now and then, though, you find yourself in the home team’s dugout at AutoZone Park with a very good baseball player who has a very interesting story to share. Like the Memphis Redbirds’ top hitter this season, outfielder Matt Koperniak.
That story? It began on Feb. 8, 1998, when Koperniak was born in London. (Koperniak played for Great Britain in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.) “My dad was in the military,” explains Koperniak. “He was in Italy for a bit, then England. But I have no memories of that time.” Matt and his family moved back to the States — to Adams, Mass. — before his third birthday.
Koperniak played collegiately at Division III Trinity College in Connecticut, part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. He hit .394 as a junior in 2019, but beating up on the likes of Tufts and Wesleyan doesn’t typically catch the eye of major-league scouts. When the coronavirus pandemic wiped out his senior season, Koperniak received an extra year of eligibility but, having graduated with a degree in biology, he chose to sign as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I’ve always loved baseball,” says Koperniak, “and it’s helped me get places, including a good school. My advisor — agent now — was able to get me into pro ball, so here we are.” He played in a few showcases as well as for the North Adams SteepleCats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, enough to convince a Cardinal scout he was worth that free agent offer.
The Redbirds hosted Memphis Red Sox Night on Aug. 10, the home team taking the field in commemorative uniforms honoring the Bluff City’s Negro Leagues team of the 1930s and ’40s. Luken Baker (the franchise’s all-time home run leader) and Jordan Walker (the team’s top-ranked prospect) each slammed home runs in a Memphis win over Gwinnett, but by the final out it had become Matt Koperniak Night at AutoZone Park. He drilled a home run, a triple, and a single, falling merely a double shy of hitting for the cycle. It was perfectly Koperniak: Outstanding baseball blended into others’ eye-catching heroics.
“It’s trying to do the little things right,” he emphasizes, “and being a competitor. The Cardinals do a great job of getting us to play well-rounded baseball. Everybody has the same mindset: How can I help win the next game? You gotta stay in attack mode to be productive.”
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