The Adams administration is not renewing its lucrative and expansive contract with a for-profit medical services provider, DocGo, to care for migrants.  

The $432 million contract will expire on May 5.

“This was, in our opinion, a uniquely problematic contract,” City Comptroller Brad Lander said.  

Lander has been one of the biggest critics of the city’s no-bid emergency contract and is currently auditing the company’s contract.  

“I’m glad City Hall has come to its senses,” Lander said. “There was just overwhelming evidence that this was a bad contract from the start.”

Among the criticisms, DocGo lacked expertise in serving a group of people like migrants and quality of services from subcontractors, like those providing food and security.  

“There were real concerns about whether the city was getting the best price, in hindsight it was very clear we weren’t,” Lander said.  

Spending less on migrant services was the reason an Adams administration official cited for parting ways with DocGo.  

In a statement, Adams’ chief of staff Camille Joseph Varlack said, “This will ultimately allow the city to save more money and will allow others, including non-profits and internationally-recognized resettlement providers, to apply to do this critical work.”  

DocGo launched as a medical transportation service called Ambulnz.  

During the pandemic, it contracted with the city for COVID-19 testing.  

When migrants started arriving in New York by the thousands, DocGo got the contract with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to provide health care, food and casework for migrants in hotels and facilities in the city and around the state.  

DocGo currently cares for 3,600 people.

The company, in a statement, said, “DocGo is immensely proud of the exceptional work that our team has accomplished and continues to perform in aiding the city’s response to this unprecedented crisis.”

Amid the scrutiny, DocGo’s former CEO, Anthony Capone, resigned for lying about his educational background.    

“We want to see more nonprofits because they’re the life line in human service workers,” Councilwoman Julie Won, chair of the contracts committee. “These local nonprofits are doing the casework, anyway. They deserve to get paid.”

Throughout the rest of the year, DocGo will still contract with the city to serve migrants in upstate facilities and help in the transition to a new contractor for migrant care in the city.  

After May 5, the city will have an existing contractor, Texas-based Garner Environmental Services, manage migrant care in the city until a new provider is hired.