RICHMOND, VA (May 2, 2022) The Medical Society of Virginia’s SafeHaven™ program has over 4,000 physicians, PAs, nurses, pharmacists, and medical students enrolled, allowing them to seek support and well-being services while they provide care to others. SafeHaven™ resources and benefits are extended to family members while protecting the healthcare clinician’s confidentiality and medical licensure. SafeHaven™ has seen a 47 percent utilization rate, far exceeding the traditional Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) proving the demand for a protected assistance program.

SafeHaven™ offers a comprehensive set of Well Being Resources that include coaching, and behavioral health resources focused on work/life balance and well being for physicians, PAs, nurses, and pharmacists; as well as medical, nursing, PA, and pharmacy students.

The pandemic has created a shortage of healthcare workers as physicians, nurses, PAs, and other healthcare workers exit due to stress and unsustainable work expectations. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 400,000 healthcare professionals have left the field. The American Medical Association (AMA) recently surveyed their membership reporting 43% of respondents experienced work overload and 49% burnout.

“Through our conversations with our members and stakeholders, we learned very quickly how much physicians, PAs, and the entire healthcare team needed SafeHaven™,” said Medical Society of Virginia’s CEO Melina Davis. “May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we will be asking our communities across the state to spread awareness about the importance of healthcare workers caring for their mental health. SafeHaven™ is here to make it easier for them to get the access they need to behavioral health resources.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the need to address burnout and behavioral health struggles of healthcare workers. SafeHaven™ will launch several campaigns throughout the month of May on its social media channels and website.

“In always putting our patients first, physicians and healthcare workers have been reluctant to seek support for their mental health for too long,” says Mohit Nanda, MD, president of the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV). “Mental Health Awareness Month is just the beginning of the education and advocacy that the MSV and SafeHaven™ program will be doing. We can no longer allow these heroes to suffer in silence.”

SafeHaven™ is the first program of its kind in the nation. It is continuing to grow across Virginia and the United States. For more information and to support spreading this important information throughout Mental Health Awareness Month, visit https://virginia.safehavenhealth.org/mham/.

About SafeHaven

To support the needs of clinicians struggling with stress, burnout and the effects of COVID-19, the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) and VITAL WorkLife are partnering to offer clinicians a comprehensive set of well-being resources they can use without risk to their medical license, SafeHaven™.