Hadassah Kalatizadeh
The five boroughs of New York City have been affected by the novel coronavirus. In a fury to respond, NYC agencies have rushed to attain supplies. As reported by Crain’s NY, the city has agreed to pay out over $2.1 billion for virus-related purchases. Most of these funds were for staffing, personal protective equipment (PPE) and food, as per Crain’s analysis of contracts data from the comptroller’s office.
So far, the city has only actually paid out a fraction of what it has agreed to pay for its contracts. As of Tuesday, NYC had only shelled out $241 million of the $2.1 billion contracted. Though many of the vendors haven’t yet been reimbursed, likewise many of the orders have not yet been filled. Some of the vendors may not even be able to follow through by fulfilling their obligations, as Woodhull Medical Supply, who has been unable to satisfy their end of the deal in providing medical masks and gowns.
In the city’s rush to attain PPE, it granted Woodhull Medical Supplies in Brooklyn with the city’s largest single contract for PPE for a $60 million order of gowns and masks. Located at 789 Flushing Ave, the Bushwick shop was unable to deliver any of the 7.9 million gowns ordered, and fell short in the number of masks as well. The store was one of 89 different vendors the Department of Citywide Administrative Services tapped to meet PPE needs for the city’s health care staff. The city went on to place subsequent orders with the company, although the first ones weren’t completed. Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted there was a dire shortage of PPE but he said the city had done its homework before vetting out contracts. “I assure you, there were plenty of checks and balances involved, but they had to come up with the materials,” the Mayor said. Medisonic Technology, a supplier from Plano, Texas, also got a contract of more than $50 million for PPE.
One of the largest coronavirus expenditures the city has faced is for health care staff. The city’s existing healthcare staff has been insufficient to meet the flood of patients, particularly since there were some staffers who became ill. So, the city entered contracts totaling $844.3 million to add medical personnel and provide them with lodging. The biggest staffing contract was given to Aya Healthcare of San Diego, The largest contract for staffing was a contract for $500 million to Aya Healthcare of San Diego. Crewfacilities.com, a travel management advisory firm in Austin, Texas, got a contract for $250 million to provide emergency lodging for the extra staff. The two contracts together account for 35% of all the city’s coronavirus-related contracts.
The city also had to place large contracts to keep food on the tables for New Yorkers. As per Crain’s NY, with hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers flung into unemployment, the city promised close to a quarter of a billion dollars for food. Out of that total, $85.4 million of the funds were set aside to feed senior citizens. The biggest contract was placed with caterer Prime Riv of Brooklyn, which made two deals for a total of $44.3 million to feed the elders, who are most vulnerable to the epidemic.
