Even before the Covid-19 pandemic pushed health care workers beyond their limits, therapist Tasha Holland-Kornegay found herself on the wrong side of burnout.
Overwhelmed with a job managing 13 other therapists, a new baby and a home renovation project, Holland-Kornegay recognized during a counseling session that she did not even know why the patient was crying.
“I realized the impact we make on other people’s lives and how important it is when we are feeling like that to stop,” says Holland-Kornegay, founder of Wellness in Real Life. When health care workers burn out, they quit their jobs, make medical errors, and turn to alcohol and drugs and even suicide.
To help herself feel better, Holland-Kornegay turned to the internet, searching for vitamins, mental health apps and other forms of self-care. As she uncovered resources and giveaways for health care workers, others wanted to share in her list. Soon, Holland-Kornegay decided to organize the information with the help of a web designer to put the information in a public place.
The beginnings of WIRL were in place by March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and health care workers faced monumental stressors. Holland-Kornegay saw an even greater opportunity to connect over-stressed health care workers with such perks as free clogs offered by Crocs or free doughnuts.
WIRL became the conduit between overworked health care workers and the businesses that wanted to connect with them to provide discounts, coupons or even free products.
The Sanford-based marketplace platform now has about 13,000 health care workers who receive a steady stream of wellness tips, discounts and freebies via the website, Instagram and a weekly newsletter. WIRL collects and vets the promotions and necessary coupon codes in one location so health care workers don’t have to spend time seeking the benefits businesses want to provide to them.
Businesses that want to promote their products and services to WIRL’s audience fund the business with a monthly fee. So far, WIRL has about 250 sustaining businesses.
This spring, WIRL was accepted in the Launch Chapel Hill accelerator program. There, Holland-Kornegay has worked with marketing professionals to polish her digital platform and make more resources available to health care workers visiting the website to increase engagement. The site is free to health care workers nationally and Holland-Kornegay hopes to add more national businesses to the support the platform.
WIRL offers health care workers guidance on how to prevent burnout and how to overcome burnout once they have experienced it. Overcoming burnout is the most-visited space on the WIRL website, Holland-Kornegay says.
Holland-Kornegay says investing in health care workers is important, especially given the rate of turnover in the field after years of the pandemic.
“I’m a health care worker but I never thought about my primary care provider and what might be going on at their home,” Holland-Kornegay says. “These are the people that take care of us.”
A site like WIRL can help those doctors, therapists and medical technicians work longer hours and access things such as meal delivery, spa sessions or online therapy to manage their personal engagement in the work.
Holland-Kornegay, a UNC Charlotte alumnus and member of the school’s Black alumni board, says she has been approached by school systems wanting to create a similar site for teachers and by business executives wanting the same for their employees. For now, Holland-Kornegay is sticking with health care.
“There is a whole community of health care workers that wants this to work,” Holland-Kornegay says. “Health care workers are burnt out, and they don’t want to feel that way.”
Laura Williams-Tracy is a Charlotte-based freelance writer who can be reached at laura@lwtcommunications.bz.