He plays a doctor on TV, but Noah Wyle is making a pitch at the Capitol for real-life health care workers, meeting with lawmakers about legislation addressing burnout, mental health and more.
“I’ve spent the bulk of my adult life playing an emergency room physician, but I am here today with the people who really do the work for a living and to share some of the pressures and struggles that they’re facing,” Wyle, who stars as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on Max’s “The Pitt,” said as he led a panel discussion Thursday at the Cannon House Office Building.
“Health care professionals today are navigating chronic understaffing. They are losing hours to red tape and administrative tasks. Many are facing mental health struggles with limited institutional support and financial pressure that makes it feel impossible to stay. It’s not sustainable,” Wyle, 54, said.
He said that growing up with a mom who worked as a registered nurse gave him an “up close and personal look at how demanding this job can be.”
“And I’ve learned in recent years how much harder this job has become,” he continued. The “ER” alum’s mom, Marjorie Speer, joined her son along with more than a dozen health care workers at the event.
Wyle, who came to Washington with the health care apparel company FIGS, was poised to meet with lawmakers to urge them to reauthorize the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. The bill’s proponents say it would help support the mental health of front-line health care providers through federal programs and training and would reduce the risk of suicide and burnout.
“This is not a workforce issue. This is a patient health care issue. This is a national health care crisis, and that is why we are here: To listen, and to learn and to talk about what can change when we take these stories seriously and work together constructively on them in a bipartisan way,” the actor said.
“Because if we don’t have a healthy and functioning health care workforce, we don’t have health care at all,” Wyle said.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who noted that he was one of two pharmacists in Congress, told the group, “I’ve seen health care. I’ve seen it firsthand, and I’ve seen the stress. I’ve seen the work that goes into health care, and the work and the stress that health care workers have, and it’s something that needs to be addressed.”
“When it comes down to it, whether you’re Republican, or Democrat or independent, we all want the same thing when it comes to health care: We want accessible, affordable, quality health care,” Carter said.
“We’ve got to be there, and we’ve got to make sure that we take the stigma out of this situation and that we enable people to seek help that they need,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said, mentioning he’s faced his “own little journey in this [health care] space” for the last five years after being diagnosed with long COVID-19.
Asked if it was harder to play a doctor on the small screen or to press lawmakers in a divided Congress to pass legislation, Wyle told ITK with a grin, “This is definitely more fun.”
“This is an incredible opportunity to come to Washington to be an advocate and sit on this panel with these people — it’s an incredible honor for me,” he said, adding he was especially grateful to share the experience with his mom.
“I think my day job is harder and this is more rewarding,” he said.
During a more lighthearted moment, Wyle also divulged which lawmaker he’d want to play.
“I don’t want to pick favorites here,” the Emmy-nominated performer told ITK, before saying matter-of-factly, “Abraham Lincoln.”
Someone in the crowd exclaimed in response: “You’ve got the beard for it!”
