'People will die': What we know about the plan to save HCMC

Minnesota lawmakers brainstorm how to save Hennepin Healthcare

Minnesota lawmakers are coming up with ideas on how to save Hennepin Healthcare. The downtown Minneapolis hospital faces closure as early as this summer amid a financial crisis.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota lawmakers are scrambling to find a solution to keep Hennepin County Medical Center open as the hospital faces the threat of closure this summer.

Urgent need to save Minnesota’s busiest trauma center

What we know:

Hennepin Healthcare is the state’s busiest trauma center and serves as the county’s safety net hospital. Every year, about 100,000 patients go through its emergency room.

The hospital has been losing more than $100 million a year in uncompensated care, largely when people cannot pay or when Medicaid reimburses at less than the cost of care.

Administrators expect an extra $1.7 billion in losses over the next 10 years because of cuts in President Donald Trump’s big budget bill. HCMC has already cut programs and staffing earlier this year, and is prepared to start closing in June if a solution is not found.

Dan Kiley with the Hennepin County Paramedics & EMTs Association said, "I'm going to be blunt here. If Hennepin Healthcare closes due to a lack of funding, people will die."

The hospital has played a lifesaving role for families like Kerry Paarmann’s.

"Because of Hennepin Healthcare, what could have been a tragedy was not," said the Mankato grandmother, describing how she and six of her family members received emergency hyperbaric treatment after carbon monoxide poisoning.

Without a major funding fix, tens of thousands of Minnesotans could lose access to lifesaving healthcare.

HCMC has already made tough decisions this year, cutting programs and staff in an attempt to stay afloat. The looming closure start date in June is putting additional pressure on lawmakers and hospital leaders to find a fix.

Competing proposals at the Capitol

What they're saying:

Lawmakers are considering at least three different ideas to save HCMC, with one in the House and two in the Senate. These proposals differ widely in how much money they provide and where the funding comes from.

One Senate bill would increase the Hennepin County sales tax from 0.15% to 0.25%, raising about $85 million a year. Of that, $9 million would go toward capital improvements at and around Target Field, $21 million would support North Memorial’s trauma centers, and about $55 million a year would go to HCMC.

Sen. Ann Rest said, "This bill is not the panacea." Rest’s bill would provide only a quarter as much sales tax as the House bill and would cover less than a quarter of HCMC’s projected losses.

The Senate is also considering as much as $150 million in one-time grants to help keep the hospital open for now.

Jannell Johnson Thiele with the Minnesota Nurses Association said, "We do wish there was a clearer prioritization for HCMC and healthcare in this bill."

Patients and healthcare workers are urging lawmakers to do whatever it takes to keep HCMC open, but some are less enthusiastic about using sales tax money to help the Minnesota Twins by funding improvements to the taxpayer-owned stadium.

Lawmakers are facing pressure from all sides as the clock ticks down, with patients, healthcare workers and residents worried about what will happen if HCMC closes.

What we don't know:

It is not yet clear which proposal, if any, will move forward or how lawmakers will reach a compromise to keep HCMC open. The House and Senate are still far apart on a solution, and with only a month left in the legislative session, finding a compromise is urgent, but a lot of legislators from both parties agree it’s a priority.