Nearly
13 million virus-blocking N95 and similar face masks ordered in March
for the city’s public hospitals and other emergency services have still
not arrived as medical staff at Bellevue and other facilities plead for protective supplies.
Of
the nearly 34 million masks contracted for between March 6 and April 11
by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, only 637,760 had
been received as of Friday, according to the department.
Also
still missing are at least 2,000 ventilators purchased last month,
toward which City Hall paid $9 million — even as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has
announced plans to ship hundreds of surplus ventilators to other states
combating coronavirus.
None
of the two million N95 masks secured in a March 25 contract with a New
Jersey company called Digital Gadgets have been delivered, according to
the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which signed the $8
million deal.
Out of a March 28 deal for six million similar KN95 masks with the same firm, just 137,760 have come in so far, DCAS reports.
The
Digital Gadgets masks are “designated as medical and are intended for
use by Health + Hospitals,” a DCAS spokesperson told THE CITY.
The Health and Hospitals Corporation told THE CITY it has 745,000 N95 masks on hand.
In
all, a review of city contract records indicates, vendors have
delivered N95-type masks in just two out of 14 DCAS emergency contracts
made between March 6 and April 11.
And
only one company, Tivuna Systems Inc., has produced its goods in full,
providing 500,000 KN95 masks in a deal signed by DCAS on April 2.
Most
of those companies, including Digital Gadgets, had never before done
business with the City of New York. Under an emergency order issued
March 16 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, those contracts and companies bypassed
standard reviews by the city contracts office and comptroller.
“Estimated
delivery dates are constantly shifting due to overall demand and
supplier manufacturing capacity,” said Nick Benson, the spokesperson for
DCAS. “There is not a fixed delivery date for these or most of the
COVID-19 related orders.”
On Sunday, de Blasio hinted at a news conference of troubling delays in delivery of crucial supplies.
“We
have a huge number of orders out around the world that if we started to
see a little more consistency on the deliveries, we would be in much
better shape,” he said.
For weeks, nurses have railed against the dangerous conditions
inside the city’s 11 public hospitals where they say they’ve been
forced to care for a wave of virus patients without proper protective
gear.
Eventually, de Blasio will make it up to all these hospitals with more clapping, donuts and coffee.
Eventually, de Blasio will make it up to all these hospitals with more clapping, donuts and coffee.
