Sen. Kaine proposes bipartisan Health Workforce Well-Being Day
On Wednesday, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) introduced a bipartisan resolution designating March 18, 2024, as Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness.
The date was chosen to coincide with the day that the senators’ bipartisan Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Act was signed into law by President Biden in 2022.
“Our health care providers protect our health and well-being every day, often at the expense of their own. My Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act is making strides to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among healthcare professionals. I was proud to introduce a bill to reauthorize the law—but there’s more we can do to raise awareness,” Sen. Kaine said. “Designating March 18 as Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness would help reduce stigma, advance research, and ensure providers can get the care they need.”
Kaine has previously led efforts to protect the mental health and well-being of the healthcare workforce. Earlier in February, Kaine introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act for five years. This act has already provided $100 million in funding for mental health care for providers across the country, including $5.6 million for Virginia providers at UVA Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, and George Mason University.
Named in honor of Dr. Lorna Breen, a physician from Charlottesville, who was working on the front lines of the pandemic in New York and died by suicide in the Spring of 2020, the law is helping to address mental health concerns facing our healthcare providers.
“Formal federal acknowledgment of the importance of wellness and well-being among America’s health care professionals has immense value,” said Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “Many healthcare providers experienced burnout associated with the emotional strain and the physical toll of caring for patients amid the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic, which also coincided with workforce challenges across the sector. Policies such as the reauthorization of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act to provide support and dedicated resources for healthcare professionals, and an official resolution designating March 18 as Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness, speak volumes about the commitment of elected officials to care for the clinicians who offer comfort and medical treatment to countless Americans."
“The well-being of our nation’s health care providers is essential, and I’m proud to support the Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness on March 18,” said Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic and past chair of the American Hospital Association.
“We are grateful to Sen. Kaine for his support for the well-being of healthcare workers through his resolution to create a ‘Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness.’ Promoting wellbeing helps our team members provide high-quality care to patients while working in an often demanding and stressful profession,” said K. Craig Kent, MD, University of Virginia Health CEO.