Allegheny Health Network Recognized as 2024 WellBeing First Champion, for Supporting Health Worker Well-Being and Destigmatizing Mental Health Access

PITTSBURGH – Allegheny Health Network (AHN) announced today that it has been recognized as a “WellBeing First Champion” for 2024 by ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare.

ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare, led by The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and CAA Foundation, is a coalition of leading health care organizations committed to supporting and protecting the well-being of the health care workforce.

AHN is the first and only health care system based in Pennsylvania, and one of only 18 in the nation, to achieve this designation.

As a WellBeing First Champion, AHN has verified that its physician and advanced practice provider (APP) credentialing applications are free from intrusive and stigmatizing language around mental health care and treatment.

This means that physicians and APPs at AHN can seek needed care without fear of losing their license or job when completing their credentialing or reappointment applications or can apply for roles at AHN without fear of how past mental health diagnoses might impact their job prospects.  

According to The Physicians Foundation’s 2022 Survey of America’s Physicians, nearly 4 in 10 physicians were either afraid to seek mental health care service – or knew of a physician who was – because of questions asked in licensure, credentialing, or insurance applications.

Credentialing questionnaires vary by state and health system. While they have become less stigmatizing over time, until recently, it wasn’t unusual for questionnaires to ask intrusive questions – some questionnaires asked if applicants had ever been diagnosed with severe major depression, neurological illness, or sleep disorder. Others asked if applicants had ever had a mental health condition, dating back to age 18 – and some went further than that, asking about childhood mental health diagnoses. 

And another asked applicants to disclose if they had ever received treatment for an “emotional condition” that could impair one’s ability to practice medicine.

“While licensing bodies in medicine, nursing and other caregiving professions are obligated to protect the public from individuals who are unable to fulfill their professional obligations, asking intrusive questions about a doctor’s lifetime mental health history can have the unintended effect of discouraging medical professionals from pursuing the very care they need,” said Thomas P. Campbell, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine physician, and chief wellness officer for AHN.

“By achieving the WellBeing First Champion designation, we hope that this is one step forward in decreasing stigma around mental illness for health care workers, and another positive move toward prioritizing wellness for all of our staff members,” he said.

In 2022 and 2023, burnout rates at AHN dropped below national rates, thanks to the waning pandemic, as well as a variety clinical wellness programs and policies implemented by Dr. Campbell’s team.

“Although the public discussion around health care worker burnout has abated post-pandemic, the burnout is still real and faced by many health care professionals across the country,” Dr. Campbell said. 

Verification that intrusive or stigmatizing language around mental health has been removed from applications is confirmed annually by ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare, a coalition of leading health care organizations that works to eliminate barriers for health workers seeking mental health services.

“Across the country, health workers are at an increased risk for burnout and mental health conditions,” said Corey Feist, co-founder of ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare and CEO of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. “Many health workers feel they cannot speak up about their mental health without being criticized by colleagues or losing their jobs. 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.”

According to the foundation, Pennsylvania is one of more than a dozen states that has yet to require changes to its licensing applications that are consistent with WellBeing First recommendations.

To learn more about AHN’s clinician and workforce wellness initiatives, visit https://www.highmarkhealth.org/blog/future/Investments-in-Care-Include-Clinician-and-Workforce-Wellness-Initiatives.shtml.

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About ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare:

ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare, led by The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and CAA Foundation, is a coalition of leading healthcare organizations, including the 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.