By Eleanor Hildebrandt
Star Tribune
MINNEAPOLIS — A group of Hennepin Healthcare System board members Monday came out against a plan for the county to take over HCMC and dissolve their board.
A number of board members of color appeared at a news conference Monday, calling the potential changes a political move rather than what is best for HCMC patients, who include some of the county’s most disadvantaged residents.
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The Hennepin County commissioners introduced a resolution to dissolve the health care system board on July 29. The move came after years of budget shortfalls, including Hennepin Healthcare losing money on operations in seven of the past eight years.
The 14-member health care board of community volunteers, hospital leaders and county officials is hoping to stop the resolution from taking effect. On Monday, they urged their supporters to speak out at a public meeting Tuesday.
Hennepin Healthcare Board Chair Mohamed Omar said the hospital has a financial problem, not a governance problem.
“It’s a widely known and well-documented [fact], we are facing a structural financial crisis at this hospital because we take care of patients that don’t have insurance or are underinsured,” he said. “That is why this hospital is in financial trouble. It’s not because of mismanagement.”
County Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde said governance and finances cannot be separated. He said he plans to vote in favor of the resolution.
“If you do not have the money to carry out the policies and your goals, you have a problem,” Lunde said. “We just know that, right now, the fiscal challenge is determining policy.”
Lunde said it is a critical moment for the commissioners and the hospital. The County Board has to set a maximum property tax levy by September and needs a “clear and direct line of information” regarding the hospital.
It would take five of the seven commissioners’ votes to remove the current board. A final vote on governance of the health system and its $1.6 billion budget is expected Aug. 12 . Lunde said the commissioners are set to meet with the board on Thursday at 11:45 a.m., a meeting that has been on the books for months.
Thomas Adams, vice chair of the Hennepin Healthcare Board, said the move to dissolve the board “without cause” was a “betrayal.”
“Removing this board effectively removes the voices that represent the majority of patients served by HCMC,” Adams said. “This action removes accountability. This is silencing.”
Adams leads a board task force that is looking into cost reduction and efficiency. He said the board needs serious and systemic support to balance the budget. Without support, he said the hospital will have to make “devastating cuts.”
The Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs (HCAPE), which is one of several unions to call for more county oversight amid budget and staffing challenges, is welcoming the change.
“Patients, workers and the community supporting Hennepin Healthcare have suffered too long under financial mismanagement and incompetent executive leadership,” Shane Hallow, HCAPE president, said in a prepared statement emphasizing the need for more transparency.
Both Omar and Lunde encouraged Hennepin County residents to come to Tuesday’s 1:30 p.m. regular board meeting to voice their concerns during the public comment period.
“People bring up good points,” Lunde said, “and that’s what we want to hear.”
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