Rainbow Health, which has been providing healthcare services to the Twin Cities LGBTQ community for just over 40 years, announced its closure to employees on Thursday, according to union members.
Employees were informed of the closure at a staff meeting that was announced in the morning and took place at 12:15 p.m.
“We had no idea this was coming,” said Michele Peterson, a benefits counselor for Rainbow Health who is also a union leader with Rainbow Health Workers Union, represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa.
Peterson said that members of the board of directors at the meeting cited funding issues as a reason for the closure, and indicated that all locations would be closing down, including a behavior clinic that in St. Paul that opened in 2018.
Rainbow Health leadership did not respond to phone calls and emails Friday asking for a statement. Currently, the number for Rainbow’s primary office redirects to a recorded message that announces their closure, which also cites funding issues. Rainbow Health’s website (rainbowhealth.org) has also been updated to announce the closure.
Peterson said the union is currently discussing possible legal avenues, particularly because the union’s contract requires 30 days advance notice of layoff.
The Rainbow Health Workers Coordinating Committee released a statement expressing shock at the sudden closure and asking for information including about the status of funding the organization was receiving.
“How do you justify the lack of notice while knowing the harm this will cause to our highly marginalized clients that depend on our professional support?” the statement said. “As we demand answers to these questions from the organization’s Board of Directors, we are united and will keep fighting for our rights as workers and to find ways to ensure continuity of client care for the community members we serve.”
No-confidence vote
Peterson, who had just celebrated her fifth year working for Rainbow Health in June, said many of her clients were left in the dark by the sudden closure. Some of those people had been clients of Rainbow Health and its predecessor the Minnesota AIDS Project for over 30 years.
First started by volunteers in 1980, the Minnesota AIDS Project focused on providing a support network and information for gay and bisexual men in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. It eventually grew to include a formalized referral network in the early 2000s and merged with Rainbow Health Initiative in 2018, briefly becoming named JustUs Health before being renamed again to Rainbow Health in 2021.
Peterson said communication had been a frequent problem in recent years. Just days before the announcement of the nonprofits’ closure, CEO Jeremy Hanson Willis resigned following a unanimous vote of no confidence, according to the union statement. The lack of communication was cited as a major reason for the no confidence vote, Peterson said.
“We were never invited to discussions,” Peterson said. “This was the first time we had even seen the board.”
Peterson said that workers, some 60 of whom are represented by the union, had been vaguely aware the organization had been having funding issues, something they had been demanding more clarity about.
She said Thursday was their last paid day and many workers were volunteering their time with no guarantee of pay to help close up Rainbow and transition clients.
“This is going to leave a big hole,” Peterson said, adding that many of her clients would be without health services until other organizations could absorb them.
She encouraged clients to look into other organizations that might be able to supply information they need, such as the Aliveness Project.
“There’s just nothing more I can do to help.”
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