READOUT: Assistant Secretary for Health Visits Colorado Springs to Meet with Club Q Survivors, LGBTQ+ Community Leaders, and Mental Health Providers

ICYMI: On Saturday, December 10, Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Rachel Levine visited Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the wake of the tragedy at Club Q and spoke about the importance of mental health care in times of crisis.

During the Assistant Secretary for Health’s visit to Colorado Springs, she paid respects at the Club Q memorial, met with survivors of the devastating November 20 nightclub shooting and staff from Club Q, toured Inside Out Youth Services and met with frontline staff, and hosted a crisis mental health roundtable with providers. Colorado’s Lt. Governor, Dianne Primavera and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eric France joined ADM Levine for this poignant day.

“The discussions I had with the survivors whose lives were senselessly taken away will stay with me. Time and again, our community has been attacked, and time and again, we show our strength as we rally together to rebuild,” said Assistant Secretary for Health Levine.

She concluded her day with a provider roundtable on crisis mental health services and the post-trauma need for mental health services since the horrible tragedy at Club Q.  She heard from providers of mental health care, about the unmet community mental health needs  since the shooting at Club Q as well as the challenges they are facing as care providers when it comes to meeting the community need. Mental health providers emphasized the need for a survivor care culture in response to traumatic events such as mass shootings.

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“There is nothing that can be said or done that will turn back the clock to prevent the horrible tragedy at Club Q,” Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Levine. “While Colorado Springs has been in our thoughts, we know that thoughts and prayers are not enough. I look forward to a day in the future where gun violence, as well as hate-fueled violence, are unwelcome memories of the past and no longer incite fear amongst LGBTQI+ people, and all people who live in America.”