County commissioners finalize strategy to save Hennepin Healthcare through 1% sales tax

The fight to save Hennepin Healthcare is in full swing and time is running short. 

"Twenty-five days, just in case you think I wasn't keeping track, I am. And every day becomes more important, as I keep reminding everybody that we have that much time to continue to advocate, and at no point do we stop because we owe everybody our last fight for this," Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde of Hennepin County said.

The Hennepin County Commission, which took over managing the hospital in the fall, is trying to get state leaders to help with the dire financial situation.

This January, for the first time, Hennepin Healthcare's balances were negative several days of the month. 

Numbers now show that in 2020, the hospital was providing $40 million in uncompensated care; by 2024, it was $104 million in uncompensated care, plus a $1.7 billion cut over the next 10 years by the federal government. 

The commission gathered Thursday to finalize the strategy on getting lawmakers to sign on to a 1% sales tax in Hennepin County. That would mean buying a $40 dinner would now have an extra 40 cents tacked on, and buying a $30,000 car would cost an extra $300.

"We have got to get to a point where we have dedicated revenue because that's what keeps it open, that's what keeps it sustained," Commissioner Angela Conley said.

Lawmakers have three and a half weeks to make that emergency save. 

"So I can't not have hope and I will tell you why, the second I lose hope is the second I give up on the hospital, and I refuse to do that," Conley said.

County leaders say they have hope because there is some support from state leaders in both parties.