Fresenius Social Worker to Receive the 2014 Eleanor Clark Award
Society
for Social Work Leadership in Health Care Recognizes Stephanie Johnstone’s
Outstanding Achievements in Improving Dialysis Patient Care
WALTHAM,
Mass. – Nov. 6, 2014 – 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 America
Through 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
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 Care