Breaking the Mental Health Stigma in Medicine with Corey Feist
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Who was Dr. Lorna Breen and what led to the creation of the foundation?
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This is the Nocturneist Conversations. I'm Emily Silverman. Today I'm joined by Corey Feist, co founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation and brother in law of Dr. Lorna Breen. The New York City emergency physician who became a national icon after she died by suicide in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Corey has dedicated the past five years to honoring Lorna's legacy, transforming her story into a catalyst for change. Through his leadership, the foundation helped pass the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act, created national programs supporting clinician well-being, and continues to advocate for systemic reform in healthcare. In my conversation with Corey, we discuss the personal and emotional journey of turning profound loss into a national movement for change, how the Lorna Breen Act is reshaping the way our country supports the mental health of healthcare workers, and the ongoing fight to dismantle stigma and barriers so clinicians can seek the help they need without fear.
I hope you find this conversation as moving and inspiring as I did. But first, listen to Corey read an excerpt from A Doctor's Emergency, a powerful essay in Vanity Fair about his sister-in-law, Dr. Lorna Breen.
Yeah.
Each year in March, doctor Lorna Brain would join her sister, Jennifer Feist's family, for a spring break trip. This year's destination was Big Sky Montana. The medical director of the emergency department at Upper Manhattan's New York Presbyterian Allen Hospital. and an assistant professor at Columbia University, Bajelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Breen had a reputation for tireless work and adventurous spirits. She once traveled to Croatia to study for medical board exams to make a working vacation out of it. Tall and athletic with a bright grin, Breen arrived in Big Sky on March 8th when New York City had 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19. For five days, she snowboarded and her family skied, while keeping an eye on the news and excusing herself for phone calls with colleagues.
Breen took her twelve year old on a black diamond ski run that week. She discussed her upcoming fiftieth birthday over wine in the hot tub with her sister. Breen also talked about the pandemic with feist. Infectious disease was not an uncommon topic for them. Feist's sixteen year old son had been hospitalized at age six when he contracted swine flu during the H one N one epidemic in two thousand and nine. During the twenty fourteen Ebola outbreak, in which a New York Presbyterian Columbia physician had been infected, the sisters discussed the risks that first responders face when asked to contain an unfamiliar illness. She started saying things like this is really bad. This country isn't ready. We don't have the supplies, we don't have the protocols, Feist said of conversing about COVID nineteen with Bereen.
The doctor left Big Sky on march thirteenth. She loaded her things into a rental car and hugged her family goodbye. We basically just said good luck, keep us posted, Feist said when we first spoke in May. In retrospect, I wish I had said, Here's an idea. Quit your job right now. Breen returned to work on march fourteenth, the day New York officials confirmed the city's first COVID nineteen death. Over the next six weeks, the city's death rate would spike to six times its normal level. Some days, New Yorkers would call nine one at rates surpassing those of the september eleventh attacks, pushing emergency systems and personnel past their limits. Breen, who had a reputation for calm under pressure and no known history of mental illness, would suffer a mental health crisis.
She died by suicide, april twenty sixth.
I am sitting here with the wonderful Cory Feist. Cory, thank you so much for coming on the show.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who was Dr. Lorna Breen and what led to the creation of the foundation?
0:00–10:02
2
How did Corey Feist and his family react to Lorna’s death and begin organizing the response?
10:02–16:55
3
What were the first steps in turning personal grief into a national movement?
16:55–25:20
4
How was the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act drafted and passed?
25:20–34:27
5
What changes are being made to licensing and credentialing practices to protect clinicians?
34:27–41:18
6
How is the All‑In Champions Challenge helping hospitals and licensing boards remove invasive mental‑health questions?
41:18–44:02