HEALTH CARE HEROES 2026 AWARDS
Mental Health Provider/Advocate: Tara Scungio, URI Health Services psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner
What led you to choose health care as your profession? I love working with people. I am motivated by their welfare and believe it is a privilege to be able to help them in their time of need.
How have you helped boost the quality of or access to health care? I work to destigmatize persistent mental health misconceptions, and I am willing to stay after hours to help someone in need.
What is the biggest challenge you and your organization are facing this year? We are seeing an increase in the incidence of multiple mental health conditions born out of the disruption and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What more do you feel the state can do to help further support the health care sector in Rhode Island? Supporting competitive reimbursement rates to recruit and retain health care workers.
Are you confident patient access and quality of care will improve in Rhode Island over the next five years? Why or why not? Yes, provided we work to avoid economic parasitism, make efforts to continue to grow in health care workforce numbers and continue to integrate emerging technology into our practice.
Tell us one thing that most people don’t know about you. Before becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I received a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania.