HCMC Gets $205 Million in State Stabilization Funding, Averting Closure and Protecting a Safety Net That Serves All of Minnesota
Contributing writer Izzy Canizares reports on the state legislation securing $205 million in direct stabilization funding for Hennepin Healthcare Medical Center, which had been at risk of closure after eight years of operational losses, while examining what the funding means for the uninsured patients, communities of color and rural Minnesotans who depend on HCMC as a safety net hospital.
While many of the bills fought for this past legislative session did not pass, Governor Walz did sign a sweeping health and human services bill that would guarantee continued funding for Hennepin Healthcare Medical Center, which had been at risk of closure. With the promise of funds on the way, leadership at HCMC still needs to work to ensure a crisis like this doesn’t happen again, especially when so many marginalized Minnesotans depend on the Center for healthcare.
“Our immediate priorities are to stabilize our team and invest in patient care while carefully stewarding the funds allocated to us,” the Director of Communications of HCMC, Alisa Harris, said. “We have essential needs that are part of our budget but have been deferred because of financial challenges. For example, staffing and equipment that supports patient care. Our first priority is to make sure we have the resources and team members to deliver excellent patient care.”
HCMC is a pillar for many Minnesota residents, with 2025 data showing the medical center has treated around 1 in 50 Minnesotans, including 26,800 cases from counties outside the metro area. Despite this wide reach, HCMC was at risk of closure just over a month ago, having reported steady operational losses over the past eight years that had finally caught up with the hospital. The county has already cut more than 100 jobs at HCMC.
“We are facing the critical and increasing shortage of family physicians, particularly in rural communities, because of all the financial and security problems that are happening at the hospital level,” Dr. Kathy Guthrie said at a town hall held by Attorney General Keith Ellison before funds were secured for HCMC. “Hennepin is at risk of losing one of the more genius young researchers in community health care because of this current instability. This kind of instability can’t wait for the next budget year.”
Thankfully for HCMC, a health and human services bill was passed by the state before the legislative session ended, which included $205 million in direct stabilization funding for HCMC, as well as a reserve account of up to $500 million that HCMC, and possibly other hospitals struggling financially, can draw from until 2031.
“We are grateful for one-time funding that lets us stabilize our immediate operations, fund essential expenses, weather unexpected crises, and plan for the long-term,” Harris said. “We still need a durable, long-term funding stream to respond to structural challenges like the rising costs of uncompensated care, and we are committed to advocating for that solution in the coming legislative session.”
Besides the funds, the bill also adds language regarding oversight of HCMC, including the creation of a new board. The bill would establish a new board that consists of between 11 and 15 directors, with 70% of members having the professional training and expertise needed to govern a health system and safety net hospital, to ensure a crisis like this does not happen again, especially when so many hospitals outside of the immediate metro area also rely on its services.
“HCMC is vital for my patients and my community all the way up in Saint Louis County, because I, at a level one trauma center also have some issues referred to HCMC, because they offer treatments, they have special skills, and services they are able to provide that my hospital cannot,” Chris Rubesch, R.N., a cardiac nurse at Essentia Twin Ports in Duluth, said. He is also the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association. “They really are crucial for the entire state of Minnesota, and my patients’ care, my patients’ outcomes depend on HCMC staying open.”
While a majority of the state depends on HCMC, the impact the hospital has is even greater for those who are uninsured and may not be able to find healthcare anywhere else, especially for people of color, where the risk of being uninsured is greater.
“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 (Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina). “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, and in 2023, Black Minnesotans’ uninsured rate was 6.3%, double the state average, while the Latino community had the highest rate at 11.4%.
“Hennepin Healthcare is proud to serve patients from racial and ethnic minority groups, patients on public programs, and many patients with social and medical complexities such as chronic health conditions, unstable housing, transportation, food insecurity, and language barriers,” Harris said. “We are grateful that the state of Minnesota showed support for our essential safety net mission. Over the coming months, the Governor-appointed task force will make recommendations to sustain our long-term stability, and we will support and contribute to that important conversation.”
Izzy Canizares is a freelance journalist and contributing journalist for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.