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Partners Employee Assistance Program sole national winner of Exceptional Employee Assistance Program Award.

BOSTON – Partners HealthCare has announced that its internal Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has been awarded the Third Annual United States Corporate Award for EAP Excellence by the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA). The Partners program was the single national winner of the award, which was presented recently at EASNA’s Annual Institute in Atlanta.

Partners EAP Employees: Back Row, L-R: Kathie Barnard,LICSW,CEAP,LADC; Maureen Gauvin, Admin. Support; Pam Gillespie, LCSW; Patricia Kneeland, Admin. Support; Lenny DeBenedictis, LICSW, CEAP; Leslie Strachan, LICSW, CEAP,LADC;Kurt Westerman, Corporate HR Director; Richard Chester,LMHS,CEAP;Andrea Krause,LICSW,CEAP; Front Row, L-R: Donna Kausek, LMHS; Phyllis Andella,Admin. Support; Barbara Rinn,LICSW; Andrea Stidsen,LICSW,CEAP,EAP,Director; Melinda Strauss,LICSW,CEAP; Lisa Goss,LICSW,CEAP. Missing from photo: Allison Lilly, LICSW, CEAP, EAP Operations Manager; Henri Menco, LICSW, CEAP, EAP Quality Manager; and Janet Loughlin, LICSW, CEAP.

According to EASNA President Richard Paul, "This award was developed to acknowledge corporations that exemplify the embodiment and practice of strong, effective employee assistance services, and whose programs demonstrate creativity and cutting-edge service delivery while reflecting the best practices of the industry.”

Founded in 1996, Partners EAP is a full-service, integrated EAP and work-life program that provides in-depth consultations on an array of personal, work, or life issues for more than 40,000 Partners employees as well as well as employees at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
In 2006, the Partners EAP provided confidential individual assessments, short-term counseling, and information and referral services to nearly 3,000 employees across Partners HealthCare. The EAP delivered more than 300 training and education programs to nearly 12,000 employees in 2006 and 28 training sessions to more than 900 managers and supervisors.

The EAP is led by Director Andrea Stidsen, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP). In addition, John Herman, MD, Clinical Director of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, serves as the program’s medical director. The Partners EAP staff consists of 14 master’s level clinicians who average more than 20 years each of postgraduate clinical experience with expertise in workplace issues, substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, cultural diversity, and trauma. The program’s three intake coordinators triage calls and are able to connect callers to an on-call clinician immediately, if needed. All daytime calls are answered live, and when necessary, Partners EAP refers employees to its network of community resources to ensure that employees with highly specialized situations get the help they need.

The Partners EAP is one of the few programs in North America to employ a full-time domestic violence specialist. The program also provides lactation support for new mothers who wish to continue breastfeeding when returning to work after a maternity leave. The Partners EAP is also one of the only programs in the United States that provides education and support to health care professionals, including physicians, following challenging medical events.

“With such strong support from our Employee Assistance Program, Partners employees can focus on achieving the organization’s mission of excellence in patient care, teaching, research, and community service,” said Partners Vice President for Human Resources Dennis Colling.

Partners HealthCare, founded in 1994 by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, is an integrated health system that also includes primary care and specialty physicians, community and specialty hospitals, community health centers, home health and long-term care services, and other health-related entities. In addition to its patient care mission, Partners is one of the nation’s premier biomedical research organizations and a major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Partners HealthCare is a not-for-profit organization.

For more information about EAP, visit www.eap.partners.org

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