Hennepin Healthcare eyes $2.5 billion renovation
MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin Healthcare hospital is set to embark on a $2.5 billion renovation project, the most expensive in the hospital's history.
Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando says the planned decade-long project is meant to meet the growing needs of the community.
"The health system, as it is now, is not yet meeting all of our residents' needs," Fernando said.
The plans include a new inpatient building and mental health facility. The project actually shrinks down the hospital's eight-block presence downtown with the goal to make it more accessible.
The work would replace current infrastructure Fernando says is currently failing residents at the state's last public-safety net hospital.
"The $2.5 billion is, I think, really an expression of Hennepin County's commitment to ensuring health access for our residents," she said.
To pay for it, Fernando says she's a fan of extending the sales tax that helped pay for Target Field. The 0.15% sales tax for the stadium should be paid off by this year. The tax would remain in place to pay for the hospital project.
For some perspective, the tax amounts to about 3 cents on a $20 purchase.
"Having a modified sales tax will absolutely create a dedicated funding source for health care, and that's really meaningful," she said.
This is all pending approval from the Minnesota Legislature, which Fernando is hopeful will happen this session.
"It is essential for, in my opinion, for governments to be delivering quality, standardized and uninterrupted service, and healthcare is on the top of that list for me," she said.
Fernando says she expects portions of the proposal to move forward, by way of vote, in the next year or so.
