 Right now, the future of the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is undetermined. On Tuesday March 24, 2026, the Administration, Libraries, and Budget Committee unanimously voted to support dedicated revenue in the form of a modified Hennepin County sales tax to support HCMC. The overall dynamics of the healthcare industry, recent federal policy changes around reimbursement, funding cuts, bankruptcy of UCare in our local market, and years of inaction to sustain safety-net institutions has brought us to this point.
Here are some of the facts:
- HCMC is the only publicly owned safety-net hospital in the state.
- It is an essential Level 1 trauma center.
- HCMC sees 100,000 patients per year in it's emergency room.
- HCMC is also the largest Medicaid provider system in Minnesota with 75% of patients receiving care paid for through public programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.
- 40% of patients needing trauma or burn specialty care from 2020-2024 came from outside Hennepin County.
- HCMC is a teaching hospital responsible for training 31% of Graduate Medical Education trainees and 60% of Undergraduate Medical Education Trainees in Minnesota. 71% of those educated at HCMC stay in Minnesota.
Failure of this institution for the diverse communities of Hennepin and across the state is—in my opinion—not an option. HCMC needs a life line.
So what are we doing about it? Hennepin County is working everyday this session to bring these concerns to the state legislature to ensure that we secure a dedicated revenue stream. Our goal is to transition the ballpark sales tax (a 0.15% tax that was established primarily to build Target Field) to a 1.00% tax that would generate roughly $342 million annually. Without an intentional investment like this, we may see HCMC shutter its doors in the coming year.
If you would like to support saving HCMC, please contact your State Senator and their State Representative to tell them how important dedicated funding for HCMC is to the region and our families, and to ask them to support a sales tax increase for HCMC in the current Legislative Session.
In partnership,
What's happening at Hennepin County, and across the district:
 Make sure to follow me on X! @HennepinDebbie
Apply to a Hennepin County community advisory board!
The Hennepin County Board is recruiting volunteers for open positions on 5 advisory boards. Board members will advise commissioners and help set policy on a variety of topics important to the county.
Community advisory board openings:
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Birth Justice Community Advisory Board
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Community Action Partnership Board
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Race Equity Advisory Council
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Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act Board
Hennepin County is hosting an in-person event to help people with disabilities build employment connections. Event highlights include professional photos, opportunities to connect with employment service providers and local businesses, presentations on employment-related topics, and more.
Inclusive Employment Connections Monday, April 13, 3 to 7 p.m. Embassy Suites by Hilton Minneapolis Airport 7901 34th Ave S, Bloomington, MN 55425
Hosted by Hennepin County’s Long Term Services and Supports.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners approved actions to support small businesses and residents facing financial hardship after the recent federal immigration enforcement surge.
Applications are due by 3 p.m. on Friday, May 1
The Hennepin County Environmental Response Fund provides funding for the assessment and cleanup of contaminated sites where the added environmental costs hinder site improvements or redevelopment.
When it’s time to remodel or demolish a building, materials have the potential to be reused or recycled. In fact, about 85% of the materials in a typical demolition project could be salvaged for reuse and kept out of the landfills through practices like deconstruction and structural moves.
Hennepin County has funding available for the following projects that reuse and recycle building materials. To learn more and apply for grants, go to Building material reuse grants.
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Residential deconstruction grants: Funding for residential properties built prior to 1970 to deconstruct building materials for reuse.
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Commercial deconstruction grants: Funding for commercial properties, including multi-family apartment buildings over 4 units, to deconstruct building materials for reuse
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Structural move grants: Funding to physically relocate a building to another location, avoiding demolition waste and preserving the cultural and historical integrity of the building.
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Used building material installation grants: A new grant to “close the loop” by funding remodel, renovation, and new construction projects that incorporate used building materials into project designs.
The Rosalyn Apartments open in Bloomington!
The Rosalyn Apartments in Bloomington MN are now open! The project has transformed a vacant and underutilized lot at American Blvd. and Lyndale Ave. into affordable housing to help us meet our regional affordable housing goals.
These 128, 55+ specific housing units along a transit-oriented corridor helps us to address the growing demand for senior housing while minimizing the displacement of seniors from their communities. The county contributed 500k of investment to support this project.
If you are interested in exploring living here, please go to the Rosalyn website and see if this might be a good fit for you!
 Commissioner Goettel giving remarks at the Rosalyn grand opening.
 Staff members who supported the Rosalyn project with Commissioner Goettel.
 Discover all the free resources your library offers—from books and digital titles to homework help, community programs, and tech training.
Check the library’s events page to register and see what’s coming up next!
Hennepin History Museum welcomes Mary Moore Easter, poet and emerita professor from Carleton College, to read from her book, Free Papers: Poems Inspired by the Testimony of Eliza Winston, a Mississippi Slave Escaped to Freedom in Minnesota in 1860. Easter will also share insight about her inspiration and interpretation of the courageous story of Winston. The reading will be followed by audience Q & A and a book signing. Light refreshments will be provided.
Mary Moore Easter is also the author of The Body of the World (Minnesota Book Award in Poetry Finalist, 2019); Walking from Origins; From the Flutes of Our Bones (fall 2020), and Free Papers. Her memoir, The Way She Wants to Get There: Telling on Myself, (Nodin Press) was also a Minnesota Book Award Finalist in 2022. A Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, Cave Canem Fellow, veteran dancer /choreographer, and emerita professor of dance at Carleton College, Easter is the mother of two daughters and four grandchildren.
Cost: Free, $5 donation encouraged
Road construction season is about to begin. Check out how Hennepin County is improving our roads to make your travel safer, better and more reliably with our 2026 transportation activities map.
Starting this spring, you will see us across the county as we put our plans into action to improve crossings for people walking and rolling, repave roadways to make them smoother, update pavement markings to make them easier to see, replace signs that are no longer reflective and signal poles that are at the end of their service life, take care of our bridges, and more.
You will also see us working on major reconstruction projects. We implement new designs to help everyone travel better and ensure connections. These projects also give us an opportunity to coordinate with utilities and cities to replace, update and enhance what’s under the roadway and around the area.
Once you find a project you are interested in, click on the map to get more details and link directly to the project page on HennepinCounty.gov. There you will find the latest information and how to stay updated.
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