HCMC Exploring Hopkins Clinic

Hennepin County Medical Center is exploring the idea of putting a clinic in Hopkins, J. Michael Noonan, Hennepin County’s real estate division manager, told the City Council on Tuesday.

The proposal is far from a done deal, but the county has started assembling potential sites in Hopkins that meet HCMC’s criteria. Hopkins is the health care network’s top choice for a new clinic location, Noonan said.

The goal is to open a clinic in the western suburbs. HCMC plans a 7,000-square-foot to 10,000-square-foot primary care clinic. It would be similar to one of the clinics from Allina or Park Nicollet, he said.

Such sites are not unknown to Hopkins. Park Nicollet closed a clinic on Eighth Avenue in 2009 as part of a consolidation effort prompted by increasing numbers of unpaid medical bills and shrinking numbers of patients. The city snapped up the property because of its potential for creating an enticing streetscape that could lure light rail riders onto Mainstreet, and it’s now part of a mixed-use development project scheduled to open in 2014.

The county expects to present options for HCMC to explore in 2013, Noonan said. It wants to open the clinic in 2014.

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