The Biden administration is doling out $103 million in the hopes of reducing burnout among a heavily strained healthcare workforce.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Thursday the funding is intended to help healthcare organizations establish evidence-based programs to promote mental health and well-being. The funding as part of the American Rescue Plan Act comes as hospitals are facing massive labor shortages as they fight more surges of the COVID-19 virus.
“This funding reflects the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to ensuring we have enough critical frontline workers by supporting health care providers now and beyond as they face burnout and mental health challenges,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “We will continue to promote the well-being of those who have made so many sacrifices to keep others well.”
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will give $28.6 million to 10 grantees to help healthcare organizations create or expand mental health and well-being programs. Another $68.2 million will go toward 34 grantees to create evidence-based training development in health and nursing training activities.
“This curriculum will help reduce burnout and promote resilience among healthcare students, residents, healthcare professionals, paraprofessionals, trainees and public safety officers, such as firefighters, law enforcement officials and ambulance crew members,” a release from HRSA said detailing the funding.
It is also providing $6 million to George Washington University to create a national technical assistance center to help providers employ evidence-based measures to address mental health.
The funding comes as hospital systems have been strained by staffing shortages amid the latest surge of COVID-19 fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant.
Becerra said that exacerbating the issue has been a reliance on travel nurses and contract staff which can be available at high prices.
He said the best way to alleviate the healthcare system troubles is to get vaccinated.
“What we need to do is try to help the workforce by not stressing them unnecessarily,” he told reporters during a call Thursday.
But nursing advocates have also stressed that the Biden administration needs to reinstall mandatory protections to help ensure front-line workers do not contract the virus.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration pulled a temporary emergency standard that mandated key equipment and staffing protocols for health systems. The agency could not finish a permanent standard in time and called for employers to voluntarily use the emergency standard.
A collection of nursing and labor unions have taken the administration to court to get the temporary standard reinstated until a permanent measure is implemented.