Clara Ceccanti, LMSW, MIA
PeakHealth at the The Mount Sinai Hospital is an intensive primary care program for patients at high risk for avoidable hospitalizations and Emergency Department visits due to multiple chronic conditions.
Patients typically have both complex medical and psychosocial issues and are possibly the sickest in the health care system. Because of the complexity of care, the approach to managing their care is multidisciplinary and includes teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, and care coordinators. The goals of the staff are to modify patient behaviors that may be contributing to poor health; increase health literacy; and teach patients how to problem solve.
Clara Ceccanti, LMSW, MIA, came to The Mount Sinai Hospital and the PeakHealth Program in 2019, directly after completing her dual master’s degree in Social Work and International Affairs from Columbia University.
Norma Lopez, LCSW-R, Social Worker Program Specialist at MSHS, and Clara’s supervisor, has high praise for Clara’s work. “Clara is consistently invested in providing the best care and services to our patients, no matter what it takes,” she says. “During the height of COVID-19, our team worked remotely without interrupting patient care coordination, returning onsite in June 2020.”
Clara responded with great empathy to distraught family members who learned about the death of loved ones during the pandemic and did not know how to find their missing deceased relatives.
“With support from her colleagues, Clara found a way to reunite family members with their beloved deceased to help them obtain some type of closure,” Norma says. “This was even more remarkable because she was a new social work school graduate and had only been at Mount Sinai for six months prior to the pandemic striking. Clara is a model of resilience and grace under fire.”
Clara feels that working in this high-risk clinic has helped her evolve both as a clinician and as a public health advocate. “For many patients, my clinic is a life-source, a place where they feel supported, seek empathy, and find a sense of home. Our patients depend on my team and my work to alleviate their anxieties and tackle their biggest fears. This program bridges the gap between mental health and medical care while addressing disparities in public health in our community. Seeing my patients evolve and overcome their life challenges is incredibly rewarding. I learn so much from them, and it is quite a moving experience.”