Allina Health recognized as 2024 Wellbeing First Champion, supporting health worker well-being

Allina Health is verified by ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare which ensures no invasive mental health questions on applications

MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 17, 2024) — Allina Health has been recognized as a 2024 Wellbeing First Champion by ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare. As a Wellbeing First Champion, Allina Health has verified that all initial and follow up credentialing applications are free from intrusive and stigmatizing language around mental health and addiction care and treatment. This means that health care providers at Allina Health can seek needed care without fear of losing their license or job. 

“At Allina Health we value our role as a mental health and addiction provider where people in the community can find support if they’re facing any mental health or addiction struggle. And it is just as important that we are looking at ways to be there for our physicians and advanced practice professionals,” said Dr. Mary Beth Lardizabal, System Medical Director of the Allina Health Center for Provider Well-Being. “Those who care for others must first care for themselves, and together we can take steps to de-stigmatize mental health and addiction needs.” 

Verification that all invasive or stigmatizing language around mental health and addiction have been removed from applications are confirmed annually by ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, a coalition of leading health care organizations that work to eliminate barriers for health workers to obtain needed mental health care. 

“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. Today, physicians and nurses die by suicide at two times the rate of the general population. We as a nation must better protect these lives, and I applaud Allina Health for its leadership to support the well-being of health workers.” 

About Allina Health

Allina Health is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of illness and enhancing the greater health of individuals, families and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A nonprofit health care system, Allina Health cares for patients from beginning to end-of-life through its 90+ clinics, 12 hospital campuses, 14 retail pharmacies, and many specialty care centers and specialty medical services, home care, and emergency medical transportation services. Learn more at allinahealth.org and join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About ALL IN Wellbeing First for Healthcare

ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, led by the 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 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.