Rainbow Health staff still looking for answers after abrupt closure
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Late last week, Twin Cities HIV and LGBTQ+ health clinic Rainbow Health abruptly announced its immediate closure after citing financial challenges as the main reason.
The announcement which blamed “insurmountable financial challenges” for the sudden nature of the closure, left staff shocked.
Today, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa union staff contracted with Rainbow Health spoke out about the sudden closure.
Lee Start was a Rainbow Health psychotherapist. They said they were in a meeting with a client when the news came to them. They were told they had until 5 p.m. to terminate services with their 40 clients and to cancel any remaining appointments for the day despite having sessions until 7 p.m.
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“I have two licensures with the state of Minnesota. I had to immediately call my boards to ask, how do I handle this? How do I stay in good standing when I'm forced to abandon my clients in this incredibly unethical way?” Start said.
Staff said there had been a recent push to see new clients, with some even scheduled for intake this week.
Staff stated that they wanted transparency from board leadership but did not receive it. And they say they still have not been told fully why Rainbow Health closed so suddenly other than financial challenges.
Johan Baumeister was the peer support specialist for the Positive Link program at Rainbow Health. The program helps people living with HIV to find psychosocial support and community.
“It was a community, both of the people that worked there and of the clients that were served. And to see that community just go away overnight is heartbreaking,” Baumeister said in an interview with MPR News.
In a statement released by a spokesperson from Hennepin County, the Public Health Team met with Rainbow Health on July 19, to begin gathering information about the impact of the closure on its clients and services. The statement also says:
“The Ryan White Program of Hennepin County Public Health is working closely with the Department of Human Services to locate services from existing area providers for the clients that have been displaced from the closing of Rainbow Health, to assure that their health care needs and supports are being met.”
Some staff have been working without payment to serve clients since the announcement.
On Friday, Ash Tifa, former legal services program coordinator, continued to hold a name change clinic that helped over 50 people.
Union workers are demanding payments that would make up for the 30-day notice that they were supposed to get as is stated in their contract.