After health officials and several rival hospitals balked at St. Paul, Minn.-based Regions Hospital's plan to add 100 inpatient beds to the metro area, lawmakers approved Region's expansion compromise — a 55-bed project, according to the Star Tribune.
Late in 2017, Regions Hospital released its proposal to add 100 beds to its facility, citing capacity constraints and a need for more room to handle growth in the metro area. However, several hospital operators — including Minneapolis-based Allina Health System and Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services, which both operate hospitals in St. Paul — raised concerns about the plan, claiming long-term trends reveal there is no need for more inpatient beds. Several health department officials echoed the rival health systems' opinion: There is a surplus of beds in the St. Paul market.
The expansion project needed legislative approval to continue because Minnesota has a moratorium that restricts hospital construction projects in the state.
After negotiations with the rival hospital owners and the state health department, Regions struck a deal to only pursue a 55-bed expansion. Lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the 55-bed expansion project for Regions Hospital. Fifteen of the beds will be designated for mental health patients.
"We are pleased to have received such strong bipartisan support for our bed request," a Regions spokesperson told the Star Tribune "We're now waiting for Gov. [Mark] Dayton's signature. And, given the changes to the [proposal], we need time to adjust our plans accordingly."