We are healthcare workers/stakeholders in Minnesota who feel deeply the cost of limiting access to vital clinical information.  We are specifically concerned that PraireCare made a decision in July 2024 to censor a training webinar entitled “BIPOC Mental Health Awareness: A Deeper Dive” by PrairieCare’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Clinical Consultant, Dr. Qaadir, a practicing Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist who trained at the Mayo Clinic.  Dr. Qaadir is well-respected among her peers for her clinical care, student mentoring, and clinical education in DEI.  Her colleagues and patients know her simply as “Dr. Q.”

Dr. Qaadir’s July webinar provided very helpful trauma-informed insight and guidance for clinicians caring for Black, Palestinian, and Indigenous patients in Minnesota - populations for whom we do not have enough clinical training and who often experience healthcare inequities as a result.  This inequity is frustrating for healthcare workers as well as patients.

Despite the webinar being widely praised and appreciated by the nearly 200 attendees, PrairieCare has chosen not to release the recording and instead issued an apology for the webinar.  The discordance between the reports of those who attended the webinar and the message denouncing it is baffling.  

This is the first time PrairieCare has effectively banned a PraireCare Education Series talk and no one knows why.  We do know that it harms our ability to provide trauma-informed care to BIPOC patients.  For those of us that identify with being Black, Indigenous, or Palestinian it puts us at risk of uninformed care at a time of unprecedented mental health crisis within our communities.

The decision to restrict access to information directly related to the treatment and understanding of BIPOC patients causes harm.  According to the Minnesota Department of Health (and Dr. Qaadir’s webinar), there are significant gaps in health outcomes between White Minnesotans and BIPOC communities.  Ironically, Anti-Palestinian Racism is being enacted and enabled by PrairieCare’s decision to suppress this webinar, which provided much-needed insight into Palestinian experiences and mental health needs.  We are saddened by the loss of this crucial learning opportunity.  

We respectfully request that PrairieCare retract the public apology for Dr. Qaadir’s webinar and release the webinar recording to the public in its original form.  PrairieCare is the largest provider of mental health services to our youth in Minnesota and is a valuable member of our diverse Minnesota tapestry.  As such, PrairieCare has a unique opportunity to serve our diverse communities and reduce healthcare inequities.  To support PrairieCare providing equitable mental healthcare, please sign this petition.

Thank you for your support,

Ray Himmelman, DACM, L.Ac

Parvaneh Jefferson, MA, RN student

Sam Sharpe, PhD, peer mental health worker

Michelle Rennie, LMFT

Nadia Hecker-O'Brien MSW, LGSW