Hennepin Healthcare, downtown Minneapolis’ largest employer and Minnesota’s biggest public safety-net hospital, has made its third leadership change of the calendar year amid financial struggles.

Last week, the Hennepin Healthcare Board appointed Dr. John Cumming as interim CEO, and he officially began his role Friday. Cumming previously served as interim CEO of Hennepin Healthcare from 2019-2020.

In his first interview, inside a surgical operations room in downtown Minneapolis at Hennepin Healthcare, Cumming discussed what led him to accept the interim role for a second time, and what he hopes to accomplish past leaders could not.

When the job opened earlier this month, Cumming says he raised his hand and went for it because of how much he enjoyed serving in the position previously.

“It really kind of filled my tank and energized me, feeling the culture and the spirit that [the staff] have here,” Cumming told TCB on Tuesday. “Working every single day, providing tremendous service. They’re committed to that, and I love being a part of that.”

Three days into the role, and Cumming says he isn’t planning to make any big leadership changes. Instead, he’s understanding “how do we, in this environment, continue to maintain all the great services that we provide. Especially the critical services that we provide day in and day out. And we’re doing that, and that needs to be very clearly communicated.”

He adds his role at this point is to listen to the executive leaders one-on-one to develop a plan for how Hennepin Healthcare can make operations more efficient and have the right personnel in the right places to provide services.

What Hennepin Healthcare Is Working to Fix

At the start of the year, Hennepin Healthcare laid off about 100 employees and removed five medical programs at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). The goal? Slashing $50 million from its budget to tackle a cash flow crisis at its doors.

Cumming notes he doesn’t plan to make any additional job cuts or program eliminations in his role as interim CEO.

In 2024, Hennepin Healthcare lost over $100 million and claims a now-defunct nonprofit insurer, UCare, owes it $115 million. The hospital system has also said it will close later this year if it can’t get financial assistance from state lawmakers.

One of the proposed solutions is to repurpose existing revenue from the county’s sales tax, diverting it largely to health care costs. The Minnesota House is considering a bill to transform the existing 0.15% Hennepin County ballpark sales tax into a 1% tax to generate roughly $337 million annually for HCMC.

The previous attempts to get approval from the state legislature to continue collecting the tax were in vain, but Hennepin County commissioner Jeff Lunde told TCB in February that “HCMC is just about out of options at this point.”

Three Executive Leaders in 2026 Already

Hennepin Healthcare has had a problem retaining leadership in the past year while it faces ongoing financial challenges.

Former chief executive Jennifer DeCubellis led Hennepin Healthcare through the Covid-19 pandemic before she resigned in March 2025.

Then, Dr. Thomas Klemond took over as interim CEO in April 2025 until he stepped down in January. To find stability and direction, the Hennepin Healthcare Board appointed co-interim administrators, Dr. J. Kevin Croston and Mr. David J. Hough, the same month. But in the past two weeks, both resigned from their positions amid disagreements over board oversight, leaving a leadership hole once again.

Dr. Cumming Arrives with Decades of Experience

Cumming hopes his experience in the Hennepin Healthcare system will help provide leadership continuity.

After he earned his medical degree from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, Cumming completed his surgical residency and fellowship in surgical critical care at Hennepin Healthcare around 1991.

He joined the medical staff in 2000 and went on to serve as vice president of medical affairs, working closely with clinical teams to advance quality, safety, and patient care across the system. Now, he’s CEO for the second time this decade.

“I have a great connection with everyone here,” Cumming says. “Many of them are people that I’ve worked with before throughout many, many years. So, it gives me a tremendous advantage in working with those folks.”

He wants to reiterate amid all the attention the health system has gotten the past half year that “we’re open. We’re providing the same level of high-quality services that we have previously, except for, there were a couple of program adjustments, right? The goal is, again, to maintain our level of service to the community like we always have.”