AUGUSTA HEALTH RECOGNIZED AS A 2023 WELLBEING FIRST CHAMPION, SUPPORTING HEALTH WORKER WELL-BEING

Augusta Health Verified by ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare,
Ensuring No Invasive Mental Health Questions on Applications

FISHERSVILLE, Virginia – Augusta Health announced it has been recognized as a WellBeing First Champion for 2023 by ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare. As a WellBeing First Champion, Augusta Health has verified that practitioner credentialing applications are free from intrusive and stigmatizing language around mental health care and treatment. This means that practitioners at Augusta Health can seek the needed care without fear of losing their license or job.

Augusta Health learned of the opportunity through its partnership with the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA). A call for immediate action to eliminate the barrier of intrusive mental health questions on medical licensure and hospital credentialing applications. Verification that all invasive or stigmatizing language around mental health has been removed from applications is confirmed annually by ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare. This coalition of leading healthcare organizations works to eliminate barriers for health workers to obtain needed mental health care. With burnout, depression, and the rise of mental health needs, clinicians nationwide are not seeking needed mental health services and care. Due to heightened impacts and traumatic exhaustion from the pandemic, providers fear that seeking care or services will create stigma, loss of licensure, discrimination, or privacy violations (VHHA, 2022).

“Congratulations, and thanks to Augusta Health for participating in this statewide credentialing application review initiative in partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation,” said Abraham Segres, Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety, Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. “The VHHA partnered with the Medical Society of Virginia during this past session of the Virginia General Assembly to enact legislation removing language from state licensing applications that could present a deterrent to our licensed health professionals seeking mental health treatment.  As those changes are being made at the state level, we are glad to see our VHHA member organizations make similar changes at the local level in their hospital’s credentialing applications.”

“Across the country, health workers are at an increased risk for burnout and mental health challenges,” said Corey Feist, co-founder of ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare and president of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. “Many health workers feel they cannot speak up about their mental health being criticized by colleagues or losing their jobs. Today, physicians and nurses die by suicide at two times the rate of the general population. We as a nation must better protect these lives, and I applaud our WellBeing First Champions for their leadership to support the well-being of health workers.”

To learn more about how Augusta Health supports workers, please visit canopywell.com.

About ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare
ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare, co-founded by #FirstRespondersFirst – an initiative of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and CAA Foundation – and The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, is a coalition of leading healthcare organizations, including American Association of Colleges of Nurses, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, The Physicians Foundation, CHARM: The Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine, Johnson & Johnson: Center for Health Worker Innovation, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, American Nurse Foundation, Medicine Forward, National Black Nurses Association, Philippine Nurses Association of America and Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare. We are committed to advancing a state where the healthcare workforce’s well-being is prioritized and individual health workers feel valued and supported so they can sustain their sense of purpose and meaning in their work. We work to make beneficial progress against persistent mental health and well-being challenges that disadvantage our health workers and therefore, our healthcare systems and the future of public health. ALL IN is a campaign of the #FirstRespondersFirst fund of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that meets all 20 Better Business Bureau charity standards and carries the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency.