HCMC insider speaks out: Former employee says $705M deal is 'a Band-Aid on a bullet hole'

Former HCMC employee details conditions inside it

FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni speaks with a former Hennepin County Medical Center employee about what it’s like inside the hospital that lawmakers needed to bail out this last legislative session.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - In an interview with FOX 9 on Monday, a former HCMC employee spoke candidly about his experience working in the safety-net hospital’s emergency department as it faced mounting financial pressures.

Life inside HCMC’s emergency department

What we know:

Keenan Hodge, who worked as a phlebotomist in the emergency department for just over a year, described the $705 million cash infusion as "a Band-Aid on a bullet hole."

He said he often helped doctors and nurses with whatever they needed and shared that the emergency team is very good at their jobs.

But during his time there, he and other staff members regularly received messages from management about ways to save money.

"It was a daily occurrence that we were getting communication from management and stuff on specific things that we needed to do to save money, whether it was not reusing a particular type of ultrasound probe...." he recalled.

Staff concerns and patient care challenges

What they're saying:

"There’s certainly a fear on the side of the employees that they might not have jobs, but more often than not it’s a fear of what are these patients going to do?" he said.

He also said he sometimes did as many as 50 or 60 blood draws in a single shift, which he called "a lot."

Hodge pointed out that many people came to the emergency department with issues better handled at a primary care clinic.

"That’s a very big strain on the system as a whole because we’re not only not as well-equipped to handle a lot of those issues, but we’re much more expensive," he explained.

State lawmakers and the future of HCMC

Dig deeper:

Earlier this month, state lawmakers reached a last-minute agreement to provide HCMC with $705 million to prevent its closure, at least for now.

Hodge, who is preparing to start medical school later this summer, said he is not planning to work in an emergency department in the future.

HCMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.