HCMC Secures Promised $205 Million Deal After Residents and Health Leaders Rally to Save the Hospital
Contributing writer Izzy Canizares reports on the legislative deal promising $205 million in state funding for HCMC starting in July, brokered by Gov. Tim Walz after Attorney General Keith Ellison hosted a public forum where residents, health care leaders and community members made the case for why the hospital cannot close.
Hennepin County Medical Center, central to health care for Minnesotans, went from facing closure by the end of the month to securing a promised $205 million in state funding starting in July, according to a legislative deal introduced by Gov. Tim Walz. For the funding to be finalized, the supplemental budget must still pass a legislative vote before the session ends. The agreement was made possible in part by residents who defended HCMC and shared the medical center’s importance in their lives, including during a public forum May 13.
Before a legislative deal was reportedly reached that night, Attorney General Keith Ellison hosted a public forum at University Lutheran Church of Hope to gather public opinion on why saving HCMC was vital and the best way to do so.
HCMC serves many Minnesota residents, with 2025 data showing the medical center has treated nearly 1 in 50 Minnesotans. While 95% of those cases were from the metro area, about 26,800 were from other counties, indicating HCMC’s wide health care reach.
“This issue of the hospital closing would not only be detrimental, but it would be a torrential cascading effect of turmoil for all of us that live in Minnesota,” said Heidi Novak, a retired nurse practitioner who spoke during the public forum. She formerly worked at NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, which, according to Novak, sends 60% to 70% of patients to HCMC. “Hennepin County Medical Center is essential to the lifeblood of this state’s health care.”
The future of HCMC has been uncertain for years, with the hospital struggling financially and steadily reporting operational losses over the past eight years. The loss of revenue has already impacted services at HCMC, with the county cutting more than 100 jobs during a time when there is already a shortage of workers in the medical field.
“It is our collective responsibility to strengthen health care within different organizations, and certainly for our friends and neighbors at Hennepin Healthcare,” said Lisa Shannon, CEO of Allina Health, during the forum. “If we do not collectively think deeper and more broadly here, we will face another crisis.”
Ellison asked Shannon whether, in the worst-case scenario in which HCMC closed, Allina Health could absorb the patients left behind.
Shannon quickly responded: “There is not a single ER in this community that could support all of the ER needs of our community. We are all struggling for a sustainable future within our emergency programs.”
For many Minneapolis residents, HCMC’s closure feels personal. Despite financial woes, the hospital has been recognized for its quality care, training of medical professionals across the state and serving as a primary care provider for decades.
“Hennepin Healthcare has cared for me and my household for 20 years and has saved my life about a million times. That place does not close its doors to anybody,” said Dulce De La Rosa, a health care coordinator for COPAL. “This is why this hospital cannot close. In addition to being a sanctuary for our health, it’s a sanctuary for our souls. My community needs that health care center.”
About 75% of HCMC patients are uninsured or have public insurance. The hospital’s closure would leave thousands, especially uninsured residents of color, without care. In 2023, Black Minnesotans’ uninsured rate was 6.3%, double the state average, while the Latino community had the highest rate at 11.4%.
“Since I’ve lived in Minneapolis, I’ve gone to Hennepin Healthcare. They’ve saved my life multiple times, and it’s where my children were born,” De La Rosa said. “I have thought the worst if HCMC closes and predict there will be a lot of lives lost, because this place attends to people without insurance and has many resources. People will not know where to go. I won’t know where to go.”
The fact that HCMC is located in the heart of downtown and serving a primarily uninsured patient population, at risk of closure, has left residents frustrated and unheard.
“The people too often pushed to the margins are the poor, the uninsured, the struggling worker, the elderly, the person with nowhere else to go,” said one Minneapolis resident at the forum. “When working people cannot afford private care in their county, and nobody else answers the call, Hennepin County was there.”
Not many details have been provided by Walz’s office about the legislative deal, but MinnPost reports that HCMC would receive $205 million in state funding for the fiscal year starting in July.
“At a time of real uncertainty, we are protecting Minnesota’s strong financial position while delivering a historic, bipartisan investment in HCMC, a cornerstone of our health care system and a critical safety net for Minnesotans across the region,” Walz said. “This agreement strengthens Minnesota’s long-term stability, supports the broader health care ecosystem, and reflects the discipline of living within our means while preparing for the challenges ahead.”
Ellison encouraged attendees to contact their lawmakers and share their own stories about HCMC with representatives before the legislative session ends.
“Everything matters. But some things have to be made to matter more than others, and that can be achieved by making a bunch of calls to whoever represents you and leads you,” Ellison said.
Izzy Canizares is a freelance journalist and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.