Piloting the Role of the Chief Well-Being Officer in Veterans Health Administration: The Auspicious Start

Introduction: Emerging evidence from private sector hospitals indicates that a chief well-being officer (CWO) can be an impactful role to lead organizational burnout mitigation efforts in health care systems. A descriptive process evaluation was conducted to learn about facilitators and barriers of integrating this role within the Veterans Health Administration (VA). A pilot intervention inclusive of three domains—culture of well-being, efficiency of practice, and personal resilience—was implemented. Method: Eight VA medical centers and two regional network offices received 18 months of implementation support from October 2021 to March 2023. Appointed CWOs were tasked with implementing key interventions in at least two work units at each location. Administrative records were used to track implementation progress. Surveys were administered to participating work units pre- and postintervention to assess changes in key measures. Qualitative interviews elicited information about intervention implementation including barriers and facilitators. Results: Not formally hiring CWOs in the role resulted in limited time to work on intervention implementation. This was insufficient and it impacted their ability to truly function in the role. Several work units experienced multiple challenges and were unable to implement the full intervention. Despite these challenges, when examining work unit changes, improvements in culture of health and well-being and change readiness were observed. Conclusion: The results support the importance of a formalized CWO role; however, findings highlight important factors that must be addressed for successful integration of role to drive intervention effectiveness. Comprehensive interventions addressing both system- and individual-level drivers of burnout show promise for improving VA workforce well-being but warrant further study.