The Healthcare industry is getting $103 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to battle worker burnout. 

HHS announced funding for the three-year program last Friday. The money comes from the American Rescue Plan and will take special consideration of the needs of rural and underserved communities.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring our frontline healthcare workers have access to the services they need to limit and prevent burnout, fatigue and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “It is essential that we provide behavioral health resources for our healthcare providers — from paraprofessional to public safety officers, so that they can continue to deliver quality care to our most vulnerable communities.”

In awarding the money, HHS said healthcare providers face many challenges and stresses due to high patient volumes, long hours and workplace demands during normal time. During the pandemic, those challenges were amplified and had a disproportionate impact on rural communities and communities of color.

HHS is now accepting applications for programs promoting resilience and mental health among healthcare professionals, resiliency training for health and public safety workers and for a resiliency technical assistance center for health and public safety workers.

In March, senior care solutions firm Activated Insights released a survey of 330,000 senior care and senior living employees over two years that found worker burnout increased substantially during the pandemic at independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing facilities. However, burnout declined 12% for home care workers. Activated Insights CEO Jacquelyn Kung attributed the decline to home care agencies doing a better job adapting to the demands of the pandemic.

Employee burnout can be costly to companies because it can lead to increased staff turnover and an increase in the number of sick days employees take.

This article originally appeared on McKnight's Senior Living