AACOM Endorses Bills to Promote Mental Health Among Health Professionals

AACOM endorses bicameral, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize, through 2029, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act that funds mental health resources for healthcare professionals. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Jennifer Kiggins (R-VA), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) recently introduced S. 266 and H.R.929, bills named in honor of Dr. Lorna Breen, a physician serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York who died by suicide in Spring 2020.

First enacted in March 2022 as Public Law 117-105, the original legislation, also supported by AACOM, sought to prevent suicide, burnout and mental and behavioral health conditions among healthcare professionals. The law, which expired in 2024, established education and awareness initiatives and provided $100 million in grant funding to support mental health services for healthcare professionals. AACOM actively engaged in these efforts and, in 2022, was awarded a multi-year $2.2 million grant to support resilience and well-being initiatives within the osteopathic medical education (OME) community.