This December, the Southwest Florida Physicians Association gave $20,000 to support the Collier County Medical Society Physician Wellness Program, and NCH Healthcare System provided $10,000. These contributions help the Program sustain the health and well-being of community physicians, which in turn helps them care for their patients and can increase the number of physicians practicing in Southwest Florida.
The Physician Wellness Program features confidential, convenient, cost-free access to professional psychological services for all Medical Society physician members. Since the Program’s inception in February 2017, it has provided more than 330 psychological sessions to physicians.
“We launched the Program to address the growing concern of physician burnout in the U.S.,” said Dr. Rebekah Bernard, board president of the Medical Society. “And now it has been critical to providing an outlet for our physician members during the COVID-19 pandemic.”