Rosen-Backed Bipartisan Bill to Support Health Care Workers’ Mental Health Passes Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), released the following statement applauding news that the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, bipartisan legislation she helped introduce, has passed the United States Senate. The recently passed bill would help reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among health care professionals. Health care professionals have long experienced high levels of stress and burnout, and throughout the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has only further exacerbated that problem:

“Health care professionals have long experienced high levels of stress, fatigue, and burnout, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only further exacerbated that problem. I’m proud to see the bill I co-sponsored to provide mental health assistance to our doctors, nurses, and medical professionals has passed the Senate,” dijo el Senador Rosen. “This bipartisan legislation will address the increase in suicides in the medical profession by promoting mental and behavioral health resources among those working on the frontlines of the pandemic, as well as funding programs to improve health care professionals’ well-being and job satisfaction. I will continue working to improve our public health infrastructure and protect the well-being of Nevada’s medical professionals.”

BACKGROUND: While helping their patients fight for their lives, many health care professionals have been coping with their own trauma of losing patients and colleagues and fear for their own health and safety. The issue captured national attention in April 2020 when Dr. Lorna Breen, a physician from Charlottesville, Virginia, working on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York, died by suicide.

Specifically, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act:

  • Establishes grants for training health profession students, residents, or health care professionals in evidence-informed strategies to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders. The grants would also help improve health care professionals’ well-being and job satisfaction.
  • Establishes a national evidence-based education and awareness campaign targeting health care professionals to encourage them to seek support and treatment for mental and behavioral health concerns.
  • Establishes grants for employee education, peer-support programming, and mental and behavioral health treatment; health care providers in current or former COVID-19 hotspots will be prioritized.
  • Establishes a comprehensive study on health care professional mental and behavioral health and burnout, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on such professionals’ health.

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