Fresenius Medical Care Social Worker to Receive the 2014 Eleanor Clark Award for Innovative Patient Care
November 06 2014 - 10:10AM
Business Wire
Society for Social Work Leadership in Health
Care Recognizes Stephanie Johnstone’s Outstanding Achievements in
Improving Dialysis Patient Care
Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation’s
leading network of dialysis facilities, announced today that
Stephanie Johnstone, who has pioneered numerous innovations in
nephrology social work during her 31 years with the company, has
been selected to receive the 2014 Eleanor Clark Award for
Innovative Patient Care from the Society for Social Work Leadership
in Health Care (SSWLHC).
Johnstone, FMCNA’s San Diego-based director of social work in
integrated care, will receive the award on Nov. 6 at the SSWLHC
49th Annual Meeting and Conference in Salt Lake City.
The Eleanor Clark Award recognizes those who have contributed to
the development of social work programs that emulate Eleanor
Clark’s spirit of discovery and innovation. Clark served for 20
years as director of the social work department at Boston’s
Massachusetts General Hospital until her death in 1984. She was
instrumental there in developing an innovative patient care program
that provided assistance to patients following discharge.
“I am honored to join the list of creative and committed
professionals who have previously received this award,” says
Johnstone. “Eleanor Clark set an inspiring example for those of us
in social work to constantly strive to improve our patients’
welfare, and it’s a privilege to be able to continue her
legacy.”
Johnstone, a licensed clinical social worker and accomplished
speaker and trainer, has developed several programs that have
helped to redefine the role of social workers in caring for
patients with kidney failure. In 2008 she launched a “Social Work
Intensive Program,” which was eventually instituted throughout
FMCNA to focus social workers’ attention on patients at highest
risk of death and hospitalization. Addressing these patients’
stress, depression and other quality-of-life issues can help make
them less likely to miss or shorten their dialysis treatments,
resulting in better patient health, fewer hospitalizations and a
lower overall cost of care.
“Stephanie works tirelessly to ensure that nephrology social
workers continue to play an important role in patient care and that
her hard-working colleagues receive the recognition they deserve,”
says Felicia Speed, FMCNA’s director of social work services. “She
brings compassion and integrity to every aspect of her work, while
continuing to find innovative ways to improve the services that we
provide.”
In April, Johnstone received the annual Robert W. Whitlock
Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Kidney Foundation’s
Council of Nephrology Social Workers. In 2013, Modern Healthcare
magazine honored her and FMCNA with its “Spirit of Excellence”
award for their efforts to use social workers to improve patients’
adherence to prescribed dialysis treatments.
About Fresenius Medical Care North AmericaThrough its
leading network of more than 2,150 dialysis facilities in North
America and vascular access centers, laboratory, pharmacy and
affiliated hospitals and nephrology practices, Fresenius Medical
Care provides renal services to hundreds of thousands of people
throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is also the
continent’s top producer of dialysis equipment, dialyzers and
related disposable products and a major supplier of renal
pharmaceuticals.
For more information about the company, visit www.fmcna.com; for
information about patient services, visit
www.ultracare-dialysis.com.
FMCNA has launched a company-wide program to provide flu shots
to its 230,000 patients and staff this season, at no cost to the
recipients. FMCNA will also donate $1 for every patient and
employee vaccinated through this program to be allocated among
charities supporting renal patients, and to the FMCNA CARES
employee emergency relief fund. Flu is a contagious respiratory
illness carried by airborne viruses and spread by sneezing and
coughing. For vulnerable segments of the population, such as people
with CKD and kidney failure, their condition, and the demands of
their life-sustaining treatment, leave them at greater risk for
complications related to influenza. For more information on flu
prevention, visit www.slugthebug.com.
About the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health
CareThe Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care is an
association, 700 members strong, dedicated to promoting the
universal availability, accessibility, coordination, and
effectiveness of health care that addresses the psychosocial
components of health and illness. For more information about the
society, visit www.sswlhc.org.
Fresenius Medical Care North AmericaUpward AgencyHeather Smith,
1-857-453-6701 / voiceheather.smith@upwardagency.com
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