Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is a Level I trauma center based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the county seat of Hennepin County. The primary 422-bed facility is located on five city blocks across the street from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, with satellite clinics in Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, St. Anthony and Richfield. HCMC has been listed among America's Best Hospitals by US News & World Report magazine every year since 1999. Some patients come a long distance to be treated at HCMC because of the recognized trauma surgery specialists, transplant services, stroke specialists, advanced endoscopy/hepatobilliary center, and hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
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The original hospital building, established in 1887 as Minneapolis City Hospital, before being referred to as "General Hospital" or "City Hospital," sat a block from its current main location.[1] Ownership was transferred to the county in 1964, when it was renamed Hennepin County General Hospital. The hospital took its current name in 1974. By the early 1970s, the hospital was a disorganized patchwork of buildings, leading to the decision to clear and rebuild the facility.[1] The current hospital facility was completed in 1976, following a $25 million bond passed by voters in 1969. The hospital expanded in 1991 when the adjacent Metropolitan-Mount Sinai Medical Center closed. It gained Level I trauma center status in 1989, the first such site in the state. The hospital underwent a governance change in January 2007, which created a new governing entity with greater autonomy from the county government. The public mission of the hospital did not change, but this transition was made in an attempt to ensure the long-term viability of the hospital.
HCMC has independent residency programs in Dentistry, Pharmacy Practice, Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Podiatric Surgery and Internal Medicine. In addition, it is a rotating site for many programs from the University of Minnesota, including oral and maxillofacial surgery, otolaryngology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, neurology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, and many medical subspecialty fellowships. It has independent fellowships in geriatrics, critical care medicine and sleep medicine.
Students from UCIMED, a medical school located in Costa Rica are given the opportunity to do internship at the hospital. The initiative started thanks to an agreement signed on February 2006. Many of the students from UCIMED end up as residents at HCMC.
HCMC also provides emergency medical services for the Cities of Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Shorewood, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, Hopkins, St. Anthony, Woodland, Excelsior, Deephaven, Tonka Bay, Richfield, and most of Minnetonka (south of Interstate 394). There are 23 ambulances, 3 medical director vehicles and 4 supervisor units utilized in its fleet (as of May 9, 2008). A MCI trailer is on hand for MCI incidents in its coverage area. HCMC EMS logged over 57,000 911 calls in 2007.
HCMC uses Hennepin Faculty Associates as its source of physicians.