Hennepin County to approve HCMC budget, including cuts

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners will approve the Hennepin County Medical Center's 2010 budget Tuesday afternoon. The hospital is expected to lose $43 million in state funds next year.

Under the new budget proposal the hospital will cut nearly 200 jobs, close two clinics and deny access to some of the hospital's services to patients who live outside the county. Despite the cuts, there will still be a $25 million gap in the budget.

The hospital's CEO Arthur Gonzalez said staff members are going over each of the hospital's programs to find which ones may be eliminated.

"And quite frankly all of them are valuable to patients and families and to the educational mission of the hospital and the service mission. But some of them don't receive enough direct revenue to cover their direct cost," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he hopes state legislators will find a way to restore state funding during next year's session.