NYC comptroller exposes expensive testing and vaccination program mismanagement
NEW YORK CITY - New York City Comptroller Brad Lander in a new audit found that a company hired by the city to administer COVID tests and vaccines was able to make millions due to a lack of oversight.
"They just did not do good planning," Comptroller Lander said.
As a result, depending on the location, each test administered cost taxpayers between $202 and $937.
This varied even more for vaccinations, with each shot costing taxpayers between $169 and $2,423.
In the height of the COVID pandemic, the city contracted with a company called Executive Medical Services to set up testing sites around the city.
The Health Department would be billed: $150 for every worker per hour, $100 for each test administered, and then later $25 for each vaccine shot dispensed.
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But the city never placed a cap on how many workers this company could hire which meant that the less busy a location, the more expensive the test or vaccine.
A spokesperson for the City Health Department said there are complexities to running these sites and in some locations, they were worried wait times would deter people from getting a test or vaccine.
They continued, "The COVID-19 response was the largest and most successful vaccination campaign in the city’s history, and it resulted in 99 percent of adult New Yorkers receiving at least one dose. The coordination between agencies, staff, and administrations reflected an unprecedented whole-of-government approach that employed resources across jurisdictions to get services and supports to people who needed them most."
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Lander says even in an emergency there still needs to be some sort of oversight of city contracts and competitive pricing.
Pointing to this latest contract, Lander says the city should have required the vendor to spread out resources.
In the scope of about three years, the city paid Executive Medical Services around $390 million for their services.