Noah Wyle

Opinion contributor

I’ve spent a lot of my life wearing scrubs, although I never passed Anatomy 101.

On “The Pitt,” I play an attending physician in a high-intensity emergency department. It’s fiction, but it’s grounded in real stories – shaped by medical advisers who’ve lived them and delivered with reverence for the professionals we’re honored to represent.

Still, it wasn’t until my mother, a retired nurse, watched a scene where my character lists the names of patients he couldn’t save that I truly grasped the emotional weight of this work, as she shared a flood of stories she’s carried silently for decades. I’ve never seen her respond that way to something I’ve acted in.

And she’s not alone. Since the show premiered, I’ve heard from countless health care workers who’ve told me they finally feel seen. Their stories echo the same themes: exhaustion, compassion and a system that threatens to make their life’s work unsustainable.

Their stories have stayed with me. And that’s why I jumped at the chance when I was approached by FIGS, a health care apparel company with a history of standing up for the health care workforce, to go to Capitol Hill with them this week. While on Capitol Hill, I will advocate alongside a group of FIGS ambassadors made up of 18 extraordinary nurses, doctors, students and other health care professionals.

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Health care workers need help from Congress

As part of this grassroots effort, we’re urging lawmakers to act on three urgent, bipartisan issues that are making health care workers’ jobs, and their lives, harder than they need to be: lack of mental health support, crushing administrative burden and financial strain.

Our message is simple: Without a supported, protected and fairly treated workforce, there is no patient care. Whatever other important issues are being debated, this has to be a priority.

Health care workers are experiencing burnout at staggering levels. Half of physicians and nurses report being burned out, and health care workers face a 32% higher risk of suicide than the general population. Even when support exists, many fear that seeking help could jeopardize their license, career or reputation.

That issue has hit home for many of the health care professionals who will join me in Washington. One nurse said she struggled with depression and anxiety due to the conditions at work and came close to taking her own life. A doctor described dental students whose teeth were ground away by stress. And an oncology nurse shared the heartbreaking story of a young cancer patient who died because of the paperwork delays in getting him the lifesaving medication he needed.

That’s why one of our priorities is reauthorization and funding of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which includes federal mental health programs for health care workers as well as grants for peer support, training and institutional culture change, especially in rural and underserved areas.

The law was enacted in 2022 on a nearly unanimous bipartisan basis. But unfortunately, it expired in 2024. It should now be reauthorized with just as much support as it received initially.

Prior authorization threatens patients’ health

At the same time, administrative red tape is strangling the system. Physicians and their staff spend nearly two full business days each week dealing with prior authorization – essentially asking insurance companies for permission to treat their patients.

One ambassador, a primary care provider, told us she spends nearly half her day fighting insurance denials and filling out duplicative forms – far more time than she spends with patients.

These delays don’t just cause frustration: 1 in 4 physicians say prior authorization has led to serious patient harm. We’re urging Congress to move forward with reforms that help put clinical judgment back where it belongs: in the hands of trained professionals.

And then there’s pay. Fewer than 6 in 10 health care workers feel fairly compensated, and only 38% see any link between their performance and their paycheck.

That disconnect is pushing people out of the field and fueling dangerous shortages.

Another ambassador, a resident physician, described working 80-hour weeks while struggling to afford groceries. Stories like hers are why FIGS is championing the Awesome Humans Act, a proposed federal tax credit to provide frontline health care workers with meaningful financial relief.

These aren’t partisan issues. They’re practical ones. And they’re urgent. Because when our health care professionals are burned out, buried in paperwork or forced to leave the field altogether, we all pay the price.

I’m not a policymaker. I’m not a clinician. But I’ve spent my career listening to those who are, and I’ve seen the difference they make when it matters most: after a car accident, during cancer treatment, in delivery rooms and at the end of life.

This week, I’ll stand with them in the halls of Congress, and I’ll be proud to do it with my mom and 18 other amazing health care workers.

To anyone who’s ever benefited from the knowledge, care and courage of a health care professional, now’s the time to show up for them and take action. They’ve had our backs. It’s time we have theirs.

Noah Wyle is an actor, writer, producer and director who currently stars in “The Pitt.”

“The Pitt” star Noah Wyle announced that he will be going in front of Congress to call for greater legislative and financial support for America’s struggling health care workers.

In an op-ed published Tuesday by USA Today, the actor, who has become deeply familiar with the health care industry through his roles on “ER” and “The Pitt,” revealed that he plans to travel to Capitol Hill this week with ambassadors of FIGS, an apparel company dedicated to supporting and standing up for health care workers. He will join 18 health care professionals and his mother, a retired nurse, on the trip to Washington.

“Since [‘The Pitt’] premiered, I’ve heard from countless health care workers who’ve told me they finally feel seen,” Wyle wrote. “Their stories echo the same themes: exhaustion, compassion and a system that threatens to make their life’s work unsustainable.”

In Washington, Wyle and his fellow advocates will ask Congress to act on the lack of mental health support, as well as the administrative burden and financial strain, that health care workers are struggling with right now. Wyle and co. are specifically seeking the reauthorization and renewed funding of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which was enacted with bipartisan support in 2022 but expired in 2024.

The act sets aside funding for both federal mental health programs for health care workers and financial grants designed to strengthen peer support, training programs and encourage cultural change at an institutional level.

The group will also be calling on Congress to move forward with reforms that are meant to take clinical judgment out of the hands of insurance companies and back into those of health care workers. “Administrative red tape is strangling the system. Physicians and their staff spend nearly two full business days each week dealing with prior authorization – essentially asking insurance companies for permission to treat their patients,” Wyle explained.

Finally, Wyle said he plans to address the financial issues plaguing health care workers’ lives. Citing one FIGS ambassador’s experience working 80-hour weeks while barely being able to afford groceries, Wyle announced his intention to champion the Awesome Humans Act, which is a proposed federal tax credit intended to provide health care workers with some much-needed financial relief.

“Our message is simple: Without a supported, protected and fairly treated workforce, there is no patient care,” Wyle argued. “These aren’t partisan issues. They’re practical ones. And they’re urgent. Because when our health care professionals are burned out, buried in paperwork or forced to leave the field altogether, we all pay the price.”

“I’m not a policymaker. I’m not a clinician. But I’ve spent my career listening to those who are, and I’ve seen the difference they make when it matters most,” the “Pitt” star concluded. “To anyone who’s ever benefited from the knowledge, care and courage of a health care professional, now’s the time to show up for them and take action. They’ve had our backs. It’s time we have theirs.”

The post ‘The Pitt’ Star Noah Wyle Calls on Congress to Help Health Care Workers: ‘These Aren’t Partisan Issues’ appeared first on TheWrap.