Dr Lorna Bremen Health Care Provider Protection Act 2022

signed into law on March 18, 2022 by President Biden

The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, (HR 1667) aims to 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 COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem. While helping their patients fight for their lives, many health care professionals are coping with their own trauma of losing patients and colleagues and fear for their own health and safety. This bill helps promote mental and behavioral health among those working on the frontlines of the pandemic. It also supports suicide and burnout prevention training in health professional training programs and increases awareness and education about suicide and mental health concerns among health care professionals.

We are incredibly grateful for the bi-partisan co-sponsors of this legislation US Senators Tim Kaine (Virginia) and Jack Reed (Rhode Island), Todd Young (Indiana), and Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), US Representatives Susan Wild (PA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL), Judy Chu (CA) and David McKinley (WV) who have joined to reintroduce the legislation and the dozens of legislators who have signed on to co-sponsor the legislation. (For a current list of co-sponsors, please click here for the Senate co-sponsors and here for the House co-sponsors.) We would also like to thank the growing list of over 70 industry supporters including the American Medical Association (AMA), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

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.
• Seeks to identify and disseminate evidence-informed best practices for reducing and preventing suicide and burnout among health care professionals, training health care professionals in appropriate strategies, and promoting their mental and behavioral health 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.