Cicilline Urges All Colleagues to Support Mental Health of Health Care Professionals

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) today spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives urging all his colleagues to support H.R.1667 - Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, legislation that will help reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental health conditions of health care professionals.

The Congressman's remarks, as delivered, are below.
For too long, health care providers struggling with mental illness have suffered in silence - intimidated by stigma and afraid of being penalized for seeking treatment.
Even before the pandemic, 42 percent of physicians reported experiencing burnout and 40 percent reported a reluctance to seek treatment for a mental health condition. This is far too many people suffering in silence.
How can we expect our doctors to take care of us when they feel that they can't take care of themselves?
The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, named for a doctor who lost her life to suicide after fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic, will help reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental health conditions of health care professionals.
It does so by:

• supporting training to prevent suicide and burnout,
• creating a national awareness campaign encouraging health care professionals to seek support for mental health concerns, and
• establishing a comprehensive study on health care professional mental health and burnout, including the impact of the pandemic.

Our health care professionals have been serving on the frontlines, taking care of us amid an unprecedented global pandemic. It's time we take care of them.
I urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation, and I yield back.

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