Eleanor Clark Award For Innovative Programs in Patient Care
The Eleanor Clark Award was established in 1985 as a fitting way to honor the memory of SSWLHC leader Eleanor Clark. She served as the 13th president of the SSWLHC in 1978, and received the Ida M Cannon Award in 1979.
Eleanor’s legacy includes nearly 30 years with Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, serving as the Director of the social work department from 1964 to 1984. At that time, she was promoted to associate general director of the hospital. When she died later that year, Eleanor was actively working on the development of innovative patient care programs. Her last major project was the MGH Coordinator Care Program. Funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the project enhanced patients’ abilities to return to their communities by ensuring the provision of services necessary for them to remain in their homes following discharge.
Award Purpose, Expectations of Nominees
This award honors an individual or team for the development, implementation and evaluation of a clinical or social action program that emulates Eleanor Clark’s spirit of discovery and innovation. In addition, the award seeks to promote creative and valuable new programs throughout the health care field.
Award Criteria
In addition to demonstrating the characteristics of candidates for all Society awards (established by the SSWLHC Board in 1981), The Eleanor Clark Award recipient must be an individual who developed and successfully implemented an innovative clinical or social action focused program. The program’s merits and achievements are evaluated by all of the following:
- Fulfills an unmet need for a specific population
- Demonstrates sound conceptualization and program design
- Successful program implementation
- Demonstration of the program’s effectiveness
Winner Receives
- Personalized, specially engraved award presented at the Opening Banquet dinner with two minutes to accept
- Annual Meeting Conference Registration fee will be waived
- Bulletin board at the conference
Previous Recipients
| Year | Recipient |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Sandra McCormick |
| 1987 | Polly Jones |
| 1988 | W. June Simmons |
| 1989 | Thomas E. Bryden |
| 1990 | Anne Groves & Helen G. Clinton |
| 1991 | Cheri Plavnick |
| 1992 | Gayle Doucette |
| 1993 | Ellen Parker & Laurie Hackett |
| 1994 | Mary Anne Macaulay |
| 1995 | Paula Edwards-Wills |
| 1996 | Sarah Meadows |
| 1997 | Stephen E. Corso |
| 1998 | No Recipient |
| 1999 | Grady Memorial Hospital, Charlotte Turner, Director |
| 2000 | No Recipient |
| 2001 | Jaris S.Hammond |
| 2002 | Terri Drew |
| 2003 | Toni Cabat |
| 2004 | Virna Little |
| 2005 | Deborah Chesky |
| 2006 | Susan Kheder |
| 2007 | No Recipient |
| 2008 | Kathleen Wade |
| 2009 | No Recipient |
| 2010 | No Recipient |
| 2011 | Carol Frazier Maxwell |
| 2012 | No Recipient |
| 2013 | Paula Crombie |
| 2014 | Stephanie Johnstone |
| 2015 | Wendy Griffith, Donna Suckow & Mark Anderson |
| 2016 | Jaimie Lyons |
| 2017 | Sue England, Amal Elanouari, and Ashley Hartoch |
| 2018 | Louise Knight |
| 2019 | Chris McLaughlin |
| 2020 | No Recipient |