In a move that signals a fundamental shift in how healthcare values its own workers, Community Health Network in Indiana has removed stigmatizing mental health questions from physician credentialing applications—and the national recognition they've received makes clear this isn't a small gesture. The health system has been named a 2026 Wellbeing First Champion by ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, a coalition led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation, for taking a concrete stand against one of healthcare's most persistent barriers to care: the fear that seeking mental health support could jeopardize a doctor's career.
For years, physicians and other credentialed health workers have faced a troubling paradox. They spend their careers caring for others while battling burnout, depression, and exhaustion—yet the very applications used to verify their credentials asked invasive questions about mental health history. The implicit message was clear: admit to struggling, and your professional standing might be at risk. This fear kept caregivers silent, enduring in isolation rather than seeking the confidential care they desperately needed.
Community Health Network's decision to strip these intrusive questions from its credentialing process removes that barrier. "Health workers should be able to seek mental health care confidentially," said Dr. Noah Kersey, Community's chief wellness officer. "Removing invasive questions from credentialing applications helps reduce stigma and supports the people who care for our patients every day." That language matters because it reframes mental health not as a professional liability but as a human need—something no worker should hide.
But Community's work extends far beyond removing a few questions from a form. The health system established its Center for Physician Well-Being and Professional Development in 2017, now nearly a decade of sustained investment in the wellbeing of physicians and advanced practice providers. The center's toolkit is comprehensive: well-being coaching and counseling resources, small-group peer connection opportunities, career coaching, mentoring programs, physician leadership development, APP professional development, and the CPN Leadership Academy. The stated goals are direct—strengthen workplace culture, improve work-life integration, develop inclusive and effective clinical leaders, prevent burnout, and restore the joy of practice.
That last phrase carries weight. Joy of practice. In an era when physicians report alarming rates of burnout and demoralization, the notion that healthcare systems should actively work to restore satisfaction and meaning to the work is itself a form of progress.
Corey Feist, CEO and Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation, articulated the stakes with clarity: "Every health worker is a human being who carries the immense weight of caring for others. For too long, our caregivers have suffered in silence, fearing that seeking the confidential mental health care they need would cost them the career they love. Community is breaking that silence—sending a powerful, compassionate message to their workforce that your life matters as much as your livelihood, and you never have to choose between the two."
That message—your life matters as much as your livelihood—represents a genuine reordering of priorities. As more health systems face pressure to support their workforce and as recognition like this spreads, it becomes easier for other organizations to follow. In Indiana and beyond, Community Health Network has modeled what it looks like when a healthcare system decides that caring for caregivers isn't an add-on or a nice-to-have. It's foundational to who they are.