117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 610 

AN ACT 

To address behavioral health and well-being among health 

care professionals. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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†S 610 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dr. Lorna Breen 

3 Health Care Provider Protection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES. 

5 The Secretary of Health and Human Services (re6 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall identify and 

7 disseminate evidence-based or evidence-informed best 

8 practices for preventing suicide and improving mental 

9 health and resiliency among health care professionals, and 

10 for training health care professionals in appropriate strat11 egies to promote their mental health. Such best practices 

12 shall include recommendations related to preventing sui13 cide and improving mental health and resiliency among 

14 health care professionals. 

15 SEC. 3. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS INITIATIVE ENCOUR16 AGING USE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUB17 STANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES BY 

18 HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

20 with relevant stakeholders, including medical professional 

21 associations, shall establish a national evidence-based or 

22 evidence-informed education and awareness initiative to 

23 encourage health care professionals to seek support and 

24 care for their mental health or substance use concerns, 

25 to help such professionals identify risk factors associated 

26 with suicide and mental health conditions, and to help 
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1 such professionals learn how best to respond to such risks, 

2 with the goal of preventing suicide, mental health condi3 tions, and substance use disorders, and to address stigma 

4 associated with seeking mental health and substance use 

5 disorder services. 

6 (b) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide 

8 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen9 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 

10 Commerce of the House of Representatives an update on 

11 the activities and outcomes of the initiative under sub12 section (a), including a description of quantitative and 

13 qualitative metrics used to evaluate such activities and 

14 outcomes. 

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

16 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

17 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2024. 

18 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH AMONG 

19 THE HEALTH PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE. 

20 Subpart I of part E of title VII of the Public Health 

21 Service Act (42 U.S.C.. 294n et seq.) is amended by add22 ing at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 764. GRANTS TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH AMONG 

2 THE HEALTH PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

4 grants related to improving mental health and resiliency 

5 among health care professionals. 

6 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH

7 AMONG HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

9 grants to health care entities, including entities that 

10 provide health care services, such as hospitals, com11 munity health centers, and rural health clinics, or to 

12 medical professional associations, to establish or en13 hance evidence-based or evidence-informed programs 

14 dedicated to improving mental health and resiliency 

15 for health care professionals. 

16 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiv17 ing a grant under this subsection shall use amounts 

18 under the grant to implement a new program or en19 hance an existing program to promote mental health 

20 among health care professionals, which may in21 clude— 

22 ‘‘(A) improving awareness among health 

23 care professionals about risk factors for, and 

24 signs of, suicide and mental health or substance 

25 use disorders, in accordance with evidence26 based or evidence-informed practices; 
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1 ‘‘(B) establishing new, or enhancing exist2 ing, evidence-based or evidence-informed pro3 grams for preventing suicide and improving 

4 mental health and resiliency among health care 

5 professionals; 

6 ‘‘(C) establishing new, or enhancing exist7 ing, peer-support programs among health care 

8 professionals; or 

9 ‘‘(D) providing mental health care, follow10 up services and care, or referral for such serv11 ices and care, as appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

13 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to eligi14 ble entities in health professional shortage areas or 

15 rural areas. 

16 ‘‘(c) TRAINING GRANTS.—The Secretary may estab17 lish a program to award grants to health professions 

18 schools, academic health centers, State or local govern19 ments, Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations, or other ap20 propriate public or private nonprofit entities (or consortia 

21 of entities, including entities promoting multidisciplinary 

22 approaches) to support the training of health care stu23 dents, residents, or health care professionals in evidence24 based or evidence-informed strategies to address mental 
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1 and substance use disorders and improve mental health 

2 and resiliency among health care professionals. 

3 ‘‘(d) GRANT TERMS.—A grant awarded under sub4 section (b) or (c) shall be for a period of 3 years. 

5 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION SUBMISSION.—An entity seeking 

6 a grant under subsection (b) or (c) shall submit an appli7 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

8 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

9 require. 

10 ‘‘(f) REPORTING.—An entity awarded a grant under 

11 subsection (b) or (c) shall periodically submit to the Sec12 retary a report evaluating the activities supported by the 

13 grant. 

14 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

15 carry out this section and section 5 of the Dr. Lorna 

16 Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, there are au17 thorized to be appropriated $35,000,000 for each of fiscal 

18 years 2022 through 2024.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. REVIEW WITH RESPECT TO HEALTH CARE PROFES20 SIONAL MENTAL HEALTH AND RESILIENCY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

22 with relevant stakeholders, shall conduct a review and, not 

23 later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 submit a report to Congress related to improving health 
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1 care professional mental health and resiliency and the out2 comes of programs authorized under this Act. 

3 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The review under subsection 

4 (a) shall take into account— 

5 (1) the prevalence and severity of mental health 

6 conditions among health professionals, and factors 

7 that contribute to those mental health conditions; 

8 (2) barriers to seeking and accessing mental 

9 health care for health care professionals, which may 

10 include consideration of stigma and licensing con11 cerns, and actions taken by State licensing boards, 

12 schools for health professionals, health care profes13 sional training associations, hospital associations, or 

14 other organizations, as appropriate, to address such 

15 barriers; 

16 (3) the impact of the COVID–19 public health 

17 emergency on the mental health of health care pro18 fessionals and lessons learned for future public 

19 health emergencies; 

20 (4) factors that promote mental health and re21 siliency among health care professionals, including 

22 programs or strategies to strengthen mental health 

23 and resiliency among health care professionals; and 
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1 (5) the efficacy of health professional training 

2 programs that promote resiliency and improve men3 tal health. 

4 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The review under sub5 section (a), as appropriate, shall identify best practices re6 lated to, and make recommendations to address— 

7 (1) improving mental health and resiliency 

8 among health care professionals; 

9 (2) removing barriers to mental health care for 

10 health care professionals; and 

11 (3) strategies to promote resiliency among 

12 health care professionals in health care settings. 

13 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

14 Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

16 shall report to Congress on the extent to which Federal 

17 substance use disorder and mental health grant programs 

18 address the prevalence and severity of mental health con19 ditions and substance use disorders among health profes20 sionals. Such report shall include an analysis of available 

21 evidence and data related to such conditions and pro-
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1 grams, and shall assess whether there are duplicative goals 

2 and objectives among such grant programs. 

Passed the Senate August 6 (legislative day, August 

5), 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 610 

AN ACT 

To address behavioral health and well-being among 

health care professionals.