MINNEAPOLIS — National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, placed Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) on a Red Alert on Tuesday.
HCMC leaders have warned the hospital could start to close in June due to financial reasons, including rising Medicare costs. Minnesota legislators are considering multiple proposals for a long-term, stable funding solution, but they’re on a tight deadline, as the legislative session ends in a month.
If HCMC does close, hospital leadership has warned that other hospitals would have to pick up the slack, taking on patients in already crowded emergency rooms. This would increase wait times and delay care, and leadership has warned that people may die as a result of the delay in care…