Kendra Mobilia

Report for Minnesota

County officials, hospital workers and administrators are calling on the Minnesota Legislature to step in to allow a funding fix to prevent the closure of HCMC, Minnesota’s largest Level One trauma center, safety net and public teaching hospital. 

HCMC, also known as the Hennepin County Medical Center, saw a sharp rise in uncompensated care after the COVID-19 public health emergency ended in 2023.

Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley told state lawmakers at a hearing last month that the cost of uncompensated care rose from $40 million in 2020 to $104 million in 2024. 

Conley said Hennepin County levies $38 million in property taxes annually for HCMC costs, but the hospital faced a $50 million in cuts this year. She said more challenges are ahead because of expected Medicaid changes tied to President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and some county officials have said the hospital may have to close without more funding.

HCMC takes on many of the most complex medical cases in the state because it is one of only five Level One trauma centers in Minnesota, Dr. Nicole Lund, an emergency medicine resident physician at the hospital, said at a news conference on April 1.  

The Minnesota Nurses Association and other groups representing HCMC workers are calling for  immediate action from Minnesota and federal lawmakers to provide more money to the hospital.

County officials are backing a proposal at the Capitol that would expand and extend the 0.15 percent Hennepin County sales tax that paid for the Twins ballpark. They  have proposed raising the tax to 1 percent, which would generate about $365 million annually that could be dedicated to health care.

Jermey Olson-Ehlert, second vice president of the Minnesota Nurses Association and registered nurse at HCMC, said at the April 1 news conference that the hospital not only serves Minneapolis but is a statewide asset and benefits bordering states as well. 

“Hennepin County Medical Center is not just a Level One adult and pediatric trauma center. It’s where Minnesota goes when everything else has failed,” Olson-Ehlert said. “When a patient is uninsured, when they’re in crisis, when no other system will catch them, Hennepin County Medical Center does.”

Shane Hallow, president of the Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs, said HCMC is not only important to EMTs professionally, but personally too. They can trust sending their families to HCMC to get the critical care they need, he said. 

“HCMC is not just another hospital to us. It’s where we bring our sickest patients, it’s where the trauma teams are ready, where complex cases are handled and where people go when they have no other options,” Hallow said. 

Even though HCMC has reduced its capacity by 100 beds this year to 390 beds, Olson-Ehlert and Hallow said other hospitals in the metro area such as North Memorial and Regions, would not be able to absorb the influx of patients if HCMC were to close.

“This impact won’t be felt evenly. The people who will be hit the hardest are the ones who already have the fewest options,” Hallow said. “Patients who are underinsured, uninsured or dealing with complex medical and social needs have relied on HCMC and without it, the gaps in care will only widen.”

At this point, the Legislature has not acted on the sales tax proposal or any other measure to aid HCMC.

Olson-Ehlert called on lawmakers to direct their attention to HCMC after their legislative break this week. 

“Hold the hearings and get the work done, because patients cannot wait and neither should we,” Olson-Elhert said.