Health care providers urging lawmakers to step in and help keep Hennepin County Medical Center open

One by one, doctors nurses and other concerned citizens spoke before the state's House Taxes Committee on Thursday about the need to keep the hospital open.

"I speak to you as a mother of school-aged children when highlighting the importance of a pediatric level one trauma center, the hospital we desperately leaned on, on that random Wednesday morning in August of 2025, when HCMC stepped up to the plate to minimize fatalities from the Annunciation school shooting," said one woman who testified.

Doctor Tom Wyatt is chair of emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare.

"We are in a period of real instability," Wyatt said. "Like many health systems, we are facing significant financial pressure, but for a safety net system like ours, the margin for error is far smaller. We have already made difficult and necessary decisions to remain viable."

One of the bills they are considering is one that would re purpose the county's expand an existing sales tax, which is currently used to pay off bonds for Target Field’s construction, into a 1 percent sales tax. This change could generate about $340 million annually for HCMC, with the remaining funds allocated for ballpark-related investments.

Thursday's bill was laid over but there's no word yet on what committee it will go to next.

Hospital and Hennepin County officials have made it clear, without support from the state, the hospital system would shutdown, with plans to start moving in that direction by June.

Officials say cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements by the federal government are making it difficult to continue operations.