Dr Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation

Advocating for health workers: the dr. Lorna breen heroes' foundation believes every health worker should have access to mental health care and professional wellbeing support that they may need, at every moment in their career. In the wake of dr. Breen's tragic death in 2020, the dr. Lorna breen heroes' foundation worked with partners, allies, and congressional champions to develop the bipartisan dr. Lorna breen health care provider protection act, which became law in 2022. This landmark law and its funding have already transformed and saved lives - improving the systems in which health workers are educated, trained, and practice. For example, some grantees lowered turnover by 35%, reduced burnout by 37%, and decreased mental health conditions, including anxiety (53%) and depression (50%). Now, we are galvanizing our community to get the lorna breen act reauthorized and funded, so we can continue the life-saving, systems-changing work. Additionally, we work with state leaders to advocate for policies that protect health workers' access to confidential mental health care and improve workplace conditions that reduce burnout (e.g., prior authorization standardization, workplace violence prevention).

Advancing collaboration: the dr. Lorna breen heroes' foundation brings interdisciplinary, cross-sector organizations and individuals together to harness our collective strength and making a lasting impact for our healthcare workforce's mental health and wellbeing. Through our ambassador program we engage 400+ health workers, medical students, experts, and leaders to improve understanding on protecting health workers' wellbeing and advocating for change. Additionally, through our all in: wellbeing first for healthcare coalition, we lead 35+ national organizations to advance practical solutions and remove barriers to mental health care for the healthcare workforce. Together, our all in for mental health initiative equips the healthcare community to change stigmatizing policies and practices that discourage health workers from seeking mental health care. For example, through the wellbeing first champion challenge program, we support licensure boards, health systems, hospitals, medical groups/clinics, and health plans to commit to equal privacy in mental health care for health workers - ensuring confidentiality of diagnoses and treatments during licensure and credentialing processes. As of september 2025, 60 licensure boards and 1,850 hospitals and care facilities have changed their licensing and credentialing applications - benefiting 1.85 million licensed and 357,000 credentialed health workers.