Trinity Health employees who may be struggling to manage stress related to the coronavirus pandemic now have new tools available to help them cope.
Trinity Health President and CEO John M. Kutch recently announced a partnership with Orexo, a Swedish pharmaceutical and digital therapeutics company, to provide two web-based digital therapies that will help staff members address issues of depression and alcohol abuse, problems that have begun to surface nationwide as healthcare workers continue to address the needs of COVID-19 patients.
“Over the last several months, we have worked tirelessly as an organization to serve the needs of our patients and our communities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kutch said. “Each of our employees has made sacrifices and faced challenges to ensure that those infected, those at risk, and even their own families are cared for, oftentimes putting patients’ needs ahead of their own. Such sacrifices can take a toll.”
According to Kutch, Trinity Health workers will now have access to two Orexo products – deprexis®, a digital therapy for mild to severe depression, and vorvida®, a digital therapy for problematic or harmful drinking. Both are web-based treatments that use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques to help people make behavior and lifestyle changes.
Renae Lenertz, Vice President of Human Resources, says the digital therapies will be available to all Trinity Health employees at no cost to them. An additional advantage is that the programs are completely anonymous and can be accessed at an employee’s convenience.
“Across the nation, those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic have faced an emotional and psychological burden few can understand or appreciate,” Lenertz said. “We know these struggles are deeply personal and private and yet, at Trinity Health, we want to do all we can to help our employees get the support they may need to cope with these challenging times.”
