Nurses rally and faith leaders hold vigil to push lawmakers for HCMC funding

HCMC is on life support, as leaders warn the state's busiest trauma hospital could be just months away from closing without an infusion of cash. 

Two demonstrations in downtown Minneapolis tried to spotlight the problem on Thursday.

Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association gathered not far from the hospital to call on lawmakers from both parties to find agreement on a long-term funding solution.

"It could close and just shock our healthcare system. It's extremely concerning," said Jeremy Olson-Ehlert with the nurses association. "They need to come together, Republicans, Democrats, to come up with a concrete long term funding solutions for our hospitals."

Earlier, faith leaders met in front of HCMC for a vigil, also asking lawmakers to come together.

"This is a moral obligation. This is not something that is business as usual, this is about people's lives," Pastor Maria Anderson-Lippert of University Lutheran Church of Hope in Minneapolis said. 

"The sales tax right now is something that we are advocating legislators to get behind. Is it a perfect solution? No, but it's what's best right now to continue to offer care," Quinlan Koch of First Lutheran Church in Red Wing, Minnesota, said.

The proposal Koch mentioned would boost a local sales tax that previously funded Target Field.

Another option on the table is a $150 million funding proposal that passed the DFL-led Senate on Wednesday. The package also included money for other struggling hospitals. It still needs to pass a divided House.