MINNEAPOLIS - After 42 years, the name of downtown Minneapolis' major hospital is about to change.
The Star Tribune reports that Hennepin County Medical Center wants to change its name to Hennepin Healthcare Medical Center to better brand the large public hospital and its expanding health care system. The County Board's health and human services committee is slated to give the name a final approval Nov. 15, and the name change would go into effect in 2018.
Commissioners Peter McLaughlin and Mike Opat are opposed to having the word "county" taken out of the name. McLaughlin says the government will not be fully credited by the new name.
The institution started out as Minneapolis City Hospital in 1887 before being taken over by the county in 1964 and later being renamed.
