Star Tribune
HCMC wants a $1 billion patient tower, but first it needs a new parking ramp
Hennepin County leaders took the next big step on Tuesday toward building a $1 billion in-patient hospital tower at HCMC.
To clear the way for the tower’s construction, county officials need to replace the aging parking ramp that now sits where the new building will be constructed.
The County Board gave staff the OK to buy property along Centennial Place between Ninth and Tenth streets in Minneapolis to build a new 1,000-stall ramp. County officials say they hope to purchase the necessary properties without using eminent domain.
After the new ramp opens in 2027, the county can demolish the existing parking structures and other buildings just south of the hospital campus and begin planning for the structure.
The new hospital building is still a decade away and will be built on the “Parkside block” that’s just east of Chicago Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets.
County Administrator David Hough said system-wide improvements to HCMC have been in the works for well over a decade. The plan is to consolidate HCMC’s eight block campus and to update facilities, some of which are 100 years old.
Hennepin Healthcare System operates the hospital and other clinics for the county, which oversees its $1.5 billion budget and owns the hospital’s buildings. HCMC is Minnesota’s largest safety-net hospital and has one of the state’s level one emergency trauma centers.
County leaders acknowledged Tuesday a system-wide facilities overhaul takes a long time and is expensive.
“We have heard over and over we need improved facilities,” said board chair Irene Fernando.. “Yet, we are still so many years out from facilities that match what residents deserve.”
There has been progress with the Hennepin Healthcare Clinic and Specialty Center completed in 2018 across from the main hospital campus. The county bought the Parkside Professional Building and adjoining parking ramps a decade ago for $20 million as the site for the new hospital tower.
Hough said building a new ramp just south of where the new in-patient tower is planned will be convenient for both workers and patients. The county has earmarked $70 million in its capital improvement budget for the new ramp, but costs could be higher.
“I don’t want to telegraph pricing until we’ve gone through design work,” Hough said. “We really want to manage our costs.”
Earlier this year, county leaders lobbied the Legislature to convert the 0.15% sales tax that helped pay for Target Field to fund hospital renovations. The tax potentially could raise $40 million in annual revenue for health care.
Lawmakers were unable to come to an agreement on converting the tax, which will otherwise expire after the stadium debt is paid off next year. County leaders are considering another push in 2025 to keep the ballpark tax and use it for health care.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump ”resorted to crimes” in a failed bid to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, federal prosecutors said in a newly unsealed court filing that argues that the former president is not entitled to immunity from prosecution.
The filing was unsealed Wednesday. It was submitted by special counsel Jack Smith’s team following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents and narrowed the scope of the prosecution.
From March 4, 2016, through June 25, 2020, Hu routinely directed CAH employees to bill for one hour of acupuncture services, even though sessions lasted no longer than 30 to 45 minutes, with many ending after 15 minutes.
The former employees said that when they challenged Hu about this, she rebuffed them and said to continue documenting services as one hour. Some former employees said they quit over the billing practices.
Investigators also found that the clinics billed for months — and on one occasion years — after clients stopped receiving services at the clinics.
CAH also billed for acupuncture services provided in a client’s home without the required prior authorization for a home visit, used acupuncture billing codes to bill for services that were not covered acupuncture services, and used the credentials of another acupuncturist to bill for services provided to clients with a particular insurance company after the company excluded CAH from its network.
Hu also regularly signed, and directed others to sign, verifications for language interpreter services that did not happen, the investigation found.
“When I get into office, we are not raising taxes, we are going to tighten the belt,” Kohler said.
Anderson, who is 43, said during the campaign he is highlighting his work on local infrastructure, expanding broadband access and the county’s push to end veteran homelessness. He added that county leaders work hard to make the most of the taxes they collect to deliver a “good quality of life.”
“Hennepin County has been doing some incredible things despite some incredibly challenging times,” Anderson said.
Kohler said he thought he would have more impact serving at the local level. He previously ran unsuccessfully for state Senate to represent District 38 in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.
