Jodie Green and I have been following each other on social media for a couple of years, and we finally had a conversation a few months ago. We discussed our appreciation for the work each of us is doing to support doctors and all other health care professionals, including my efforts and Jodie’s with her organization, the Clinician Burnout Foundation. We’re amplifying meaningful resources that are available for health care professionals. I’ve previously spotlighted the fantastic work of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and would now like to highlight the innovative support offered by Jodie’s organization. In fact, I’ve become an ambassador for and partner with her organization. Jodie and I are moving forward to create a positive impact, making sure that those who care for us know that there is care and support available for them!

The health care system in the U.S. is itself on life support. The same can be said of health care around the world. (Not exactly breaking news.) Despite relentless efforts by change agents and advocates, even the best solutions often fail to scale or are not even designed to reach everyone who makes care possible: those practicing medicine (health care heroes) and the millions working behind the scenes (unsung heroes). This isn’t a criticism but a reflection of our current reality.

Even the best solutions sit on unstable ground.

Why do so many well-intentioned solutions (wellness programs, resource guides, and tech “fixes”) overwhelmingly fail to have impact at the depth and breadth necessary to create sustainable change? Even AI, intended to reduce burden, can add cost and complexity to integrate and train frustrated clinicians and others already stretched to the limit. These strategies ask more from people whose reserves (emotional, mental, and physical) are already exhausted. (No technology can compensate for a depleted human workforce.)

An innovative foundational fix

At the start, I identified what I call “The Quicksand Effect,” which sinks strategic solutions. This is because offers of help to those trapped in exhaustion and despair can feel impossible to grasp, and even increase feelings of inadequacy and isolation. This Clinician Burnout Foundation is literally providing a foundation for every other reform or innovation to stably stand upon to support its success.

System repair with real-time rescue

Ensuring those who care for us are cared for first is the only viable path forward. To this end, our organization operates with a singular philosophy: lift the bottom to raise hope, healing, and wellbeing among clinicians. Replenish reserves, restore outlook, reawaken sense of self and purpose, retake control and autonomy, and revive capacity. What makes our execution to achieve these recognized goals unique?

Easing burdens on and off the job, any job

Instead of adding to busy workloads, we tackle lethal mental, emotional, physical, and financial burnout by literally giving away vital services, tech, and tools to those in need right now (almost everyone) and at risk (everyone). Clinicians, non-clinician care staff, and all other members of the workforce can simply choose a solution that’s offered by our organization, and they get it. Frictionless. Fast. Free and/or low-cost. (Everything is underwritten via funds raised).

• Bleary-eyed after a punishing shift? Don’t get behind the wheel. Take an Uber, on us.
• Want your house cleaned? Child care? Dinner on the table? Book it!
• Get game-changing health tech that can slash your data entry hours in the EHR, giving back time to focus on your patients as well as have a life outside of work? Order it.
• Want culture change? An end to moral injury? Safety in the workplace? Join our growing alliance.

Sees, hears, and supports those at every level and role

Every human link in the health care system chain needs attention. Weak links break from neglect. That’s why, from Day 1, we made a commitment to support the entire health care workforce: those who practice medicine and the vast and various non-clinicians who essentially enable them to do so. After all, a surgeon isn’t going to clean the OR.

Mattering matters: moral injury may matter most

Feeling seen is essential to fulfilling our fundamental need to matter, a prerequisite for motivation and wellbeing. Among those who pursue a calling to serve others, this need is elevated. Yet, in medicine, the culture inflicts moral injury rather than honoring the commitment, character, and courage of those who have dedicated themselves to providing care that benefits everyone (including those who enable a toxic culture).

What’s at stake

Political and corporate interests, greed, and neglect have brought health care to a cliff’s edge.

• A 2024 survey conducted by the AMA found that 95 percent of physicians report that prior authorizations greatly contribute to burnout.
• The number of suicides among physicians is at least double that of the general population in the U.S. One suicide is one too many.
• Nurses, who comprise the world’s largest health care workforce (over 5 million RNs in the U.S. alone), are experiencing a surge in suicidal thoughts. Recent research from the Royal College of Nursing found a 54 percent increase in suicidal ideation from just six months prior.
• Nursing has the unenviable distinction of being one of the most violent jobs in America. Eight in 10 nurses (81.6 percent) have experienced at least one type of workplace violence (physical or mental), according to a report from the National Nurses Union (NNU).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) projects a shortfall of 11 million health and care workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. However, countries at all levels of socioeconomic development face difficulties, to varying degrees. High levels of stress and exhaustion from staff shortages, unsafe conditions, low pay, and inadequate training are rapidly increasing resignations, absenteeism, and unfilled jobs, which pose an undeniable threat to patient safety.
• Worldwide staff shortages have triggered strikes, mass exits, and warnings that the basics of health care can no longer be guaranteed.

What’s possible

We work independently and in collaboration with other burnout and moral injury warriors. No single entity can solve it all. By working together, we can synergistically make headway by sharing expertise, augmenting resources, and more. We can bring a great chorus of voices to further raise awareness. Shift public perception. Influence policy. Ignite a real, lasting, life-saving chain reaction of change.

Kim Downey is a physician advocate and physical therapist.

Jodie Green is the CEO, president, and founder of the Clinician Burnout Foundation, an IRS 501(c)(3) U.S.-based global public charity that she calls “the first health care burnout first responder.” She is an advisor, board member, and entrepreneur across health and non-health tech and AI verticals, as well as social impact entities. Currently, she serves as a consulting producer for the upcoming documentary Suck It Up Buttercup: Trust and Betrayal in American Healthcare, featuring change agents like Mark Cuban and those on the front lines.

Jodie was one of only thirty digital strategists nationwide invited to the Obama White House for its Women’s Digital Health Summit. As CEO and founder of Little Dragon Digital consultancy, she has brought her marketing and growth expertise to startups, scaleups, and Fortune 500 companies. Connect with her on LinkedIn or follow the Clinician Burnout Foundation’s LinkedIn page.