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HealthPartners is seeking state permission to expand Regions Hospital in St. Paul by as much as 85 beds, a response to rising patient demand and the closing of some inpatient units at nearby hospitals. The request in some ways contradicts Minnesota health care leaders, who have claimed hospitals have plenty of open beds but not enough doctors and nurses to staff them. In a public filing, HealthPartners, which owns Regions, said the hospital is often overcrowded. That complicates its role as a safety-net hospital for Ramsey County and as one of the Twin Cities’ three major trauma centers. Adding beds would expand the hospital’s “ability to deliver existing services — such as trauma, critical care, cardiology, surgery and hospital medicine — with greater reliability and fewer delays,” wrote Regions President Emily Blomberg in a request to the state. Hospital expansion can sometimes address unmet needs in a community, but it can also result in redundant health care services or a hiring battle for a limited number of doctors and nurses. Both can contribute to rising medical costs and insurance premiums, which is why Minnesota has a moratorium on hospital construction and expansion. The Legislature can grant exceptions, though, when hospitals make formal requests to the Minnesota Department of Health. Regions’ expansion, if approved, would come in phases, starting with 21 beds for a boarding unit that moves patients out of inpatient beds and emergency rooms when they no longer need those levels of care. A lack of such options in the Twin Cities has left patients stuck for days longer than necessary in costly hospital beds. Regions would then add 12-bed inpatient units in the next eight years to help accommodate an aging population that will likely bring more complex illnesses in need of longer stays to the hospital. Each 12-bed unit would cost as much as $9 million. Regions gained state approval in 2017 and 2021 to expand, partly to offset the closure of the nearby St. Joseph’s Hospital. An exception also allowed Fairview Health to partner with Acadia Healthcare to open the Capital Park Mental Health Hospital in St. Paul.
