This browser does not support the Video element.
Process to close HCMC could start in 90 days
Minneapolis' biggest hospital could close in the coming weeks. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni explains why.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin Healthcare is grappling with significant financial issues, raising concerns about a potential shutdown and leaving county and state leaders bracing for widespread healthcare impacts.
Amid financial struggles, leaders propose a solution
What we know:
Hennepin Healthcare, which operates Hennepin County Medical Center and several clinics throughout the metro, is losing millions of dollars a year.
In 2024 alone, it lost more than $100 million because it treats patients who cannot pay.
The solution:
The county is asking state lawmakers to use sales tax revenue, currently allocated for paying off debt on Target Field, to help keep its doors open.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Medicaid funding changes could close HCMC
The Hennepin County Medical Center could face closure if they don't receive aid from the state. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has more.
HCMC closure would cause deaths, fill other ERs: State senator
What they're saying:
"If HCMC shuts down, we will see patient deaths. There is no doubt," says Minnesota DFL Senator Alice Mann, who is also an emergency medicine physician at another hospital. "We are going to have hospitals full across the state. People are not going to be able to get care. The ERs are going to be full."
Jeffrey Lunde, a Hennepin County Commissioner, highlighted the hospital's role in handling complex patients from rural and smaller hospitals.
"We’ve been taking on care from other hospitals from around the state, rural, smaller hospitals that send us complex patients that they just don’t have the money to care for because the patient does not have money," he said.
What's next:
Lunde said the county would know by May whether state lawmakers agree to reroute the sales tax revenue. If not, he said the process of shutting down the hospital would begin, which he said could take 12 to 18 months and cost $100 million.