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
1986Sandra McCormick
1987Polly Jones
1988W. June Simmons
1989Thomas E. Bryden
1990Anne Groves &
Helen G. Clinton
1991Cheri Plavnick
1992Gayle Doucette
1993Ellen Parker & Laurie
Hackett
1994Mary Anne Macaulay
1995Paula Edwards-Wills
1996Sarah Meadows
1997Stephen E. Corso
1998No Recipient
1999Grady Memorial Hospital,
Charlotte Turner, Director
2000No Recipient
2001Jaris S.Hammond
2002Terri Drew
2003Toni Cabat
2004Virna Little
2005Deborah Chesky
2006Susan Kheder
2007No Recipient
2008Kathleen Wade
2009No Recipient
2010No Recipient
2011Carol Frazier Maxwell
2012No Recipient
2013Paula Crombie
2014Stephanie Johnstone
2015Wendy Griffith, Donna Suckow & Mark Anderson
2016Jaimie Lyons
2017Sue England, Amal
Elanouari, and Ashley Hartoch
2018Louise Knight
2019Chris McLaughlin
2020No Recipient