‘The Pitt’ star Noah Wyle to lead healthcare rally on Capitol Hill

Noah Wyle is taking on the real-life role of advocate — “The Pitt” star is making a return trip to Capitol Hill to lead a rally pushing for bipartisan legislation focused on healthcare workers. The 54-year-old actor, who plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on the hit HBO Max medical drama, is poised to join lawmakers and more than 400 doctors, nurses, medical students and healthcare professionals at a gathering at Upper Senate Park on Thursday. Wyle’s mother, Marjorie Speer, a registered nurse of 50 years, along with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) are also expected to participate in the event, which is hosted by the healthcare apparel company and advocacy group FIGS. The star-studded show of force is aimed at pressing for funding for a trio of healthcare-focused bills, including the Healthcare is Human Act (H.R. 7884), which proponents say would provide thousands of dollars in tax credits for “qualifying healthcare professionals serving in the thousands of federally recognized staﬃng shortage areas.” It’s not the first time that Wyle has headed to Washington. Last June, he led a panel discussion at the Cannon House Office Building to shine the spotlight on programs aimed at improving mental health services for healthcare workers. “Healthcare 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 said last year as he urged Congress to reauthorize the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act. “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 former “ER” star said. “Because if we don’t have a healthy and functioning health care workforce, we don’t have health care at all.”