keep mn’s largest safety net hospital open
The state’s busiest Level 1 trauma Center, Hennepin Health Care Medical Center, is in a financial crisis and is at risk of closing. It faces up to $50 million in operating losses this year and up to $1.7 billion over the next ten years. The County is currently covering the hospital’s $33 million every-other-week payroll.
The financial crisis is due to:
the shutdown of the insurer UCare, which owes the hospital $115 million and
the majority of their 115,000 patients being uninsured or publicly insured.
The federal changes to Medicaid that will result in many people losing eligibility will hit in 2027 and will have major ramifications for the state’s largest safety net hospital.
The fate of this hospital will have statewide effects. If Hennepin HealthCare’s hospital were to close, the two other Level 1 trauma centers in MInesota – Regions in Saint Paul and North Memorial in Robbinsdale – would be overrun. Wait times for emergency rooms throughout the region could increase significantly. In addition, the hospital has been a training site for more than half of the physicians practicing in Minnesota.
Three solutions being eyed in the legislature are either to:
repurpose the county’s 0.15% sales tax used to pay off bonds for the Minnesota Twins stadium into a 1% tax that would generate about $340 million annually for HCMC;
Enact a small statewide sales tax increase; or
Tap into a surcharge that every hospital pays into the state.
Call to Action:
Contact your state legislators and insist that they find a way to fund HCMC, a critical resource for Minnesotans.
Contact Information
Find your representatives and their contact information here:
https://gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/
Suggested message:
Keep HCMC open. If Hennepin County Medical Center closes, the fallout will be statewide.
Include a sentence or two about why this is important to you: have you or family or friends gotten care at HCMC? DO you work there? Did you train there? Have you relied on emergency services at Regions or North Memorial that could be overrun? Other?
Resources:
MNPost Article:
State Lawmaker explains proposal to raise sales tax to help HCMC amid financial crisis https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/04/09/hcmc-financial-crisis-legislation
Statement on Unanimous Vote In Support of Dedicated Revenue for HCMC — Hennepin County District 2 https://share.google/w2MMPJTFhvuGysiXr
