Recently, the Star Tribune Editorial Board wrote an Opinion article about Mary Brainerd, the outgoing CEO of Health Partners.

Hearing about her contributions to helping expand mental health care from the state-of-the art HealthPartners’ Regions Hospital campus in St. Paul to the “Make it OK” campaign to spread awareness aimed at ending stigma makes Birch Counseling proud to be in Minnesota.

Her establishment of a mental health urgent care center was groundbreaking, and her dedication to working with law enforcement as well as health care leaders truly provided results for those who were falling through the cracks.

It’s great to have strong women leaders who not only run a good business, but advocate for those in the shadows and stigmatized from years of bad information, or simply no information at all.

We wish her all the best in her retirement, and look forward to a successor that will continue the great work she’s done to help expand the awareness around mental health and the essential mental health services Minnesotans need.