Social Worker

Overview:

At Illinois CancerCare, we’re looking for a compassionate and Licensed Clinical Social Worker to join our supportive care team. In this role, you’ll provide emotional, social, and practical support to patients, survivors, and caregivers throughout their cancer journey. This is a full-time, Monday–Friday role with no weekends, or major holidays, offering a great work-life balance.

Illinois CancerCare is one of the largest private oncology practices in the nation, with a mission to provide world-class cancer care close to home. With a network of clinics across central Illinois, we bring cutting-edge treatments, clinical trials, and compassionate care to the communities we serve. Our team is dedicated to supporting patients and their families through every step of their cancer journey.

At Illinois CancerCare, you’ll be part of a collaborative, patient-focused team that values innovation, empathy, and excellence in care. If you're a skilled Clinical Social Worker looking to make a meaningful impact in oncology, we look forward to hearing from you!

Pay & Benefits

Hiring pay range: $55,000 - $72,000

• Actual pay will be determined by experience, skills and internal equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (multiple plan options)
• Special wellness programs – Maven, HingeHealth, Livongo, Vitality, and Wondr
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer contributions
• Company-paid life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance
• Health Savings Account (HSA) & Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Paid time off and holidays
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Discounts through our Perks Program

Responsibilities:

Responsibilities

• Provides emotional support to patients and families, including therapeutic counseling and crisis assessment, as well as non-pharmacologic support for pain, sleep issues, and other physical concerns.
• Demonstrates a strong knowledge of the psychosocial impact of cancer on the patient and family system throughout the continuum of cancer care, including at diagnosis, advanced cancer, end of life care, and survivorship. Demonstrates knowledge specific to practical implications such as financial distress, changes in relationships/roles, custody planning, caregiver demands, advance care planning, psychological distress, and spiritual/existential distress.
• Active member of the medical interdisciplinary team. Ensures ongoing communication with team members to facilitate understanding and support of identified patients and family needs.
• Participates in and contributes to Value Based Care initiatives by participating in distress and depression screening assessment, evaluation, and follow-up; advance care planning and end-of-life conversations and transitions.
• Assists and supports patients and families with transition to and issues associated with Survivorship.
• Stay informed about available community resources and national grant programs.
• Identify and address gaps in available resources within the community.
• Meets with patients and their families to administer, assess, and provide appropriate follow-up of psychosocial needs assessments. Considers social support, appropriate community resources, and coping mechanisms.
• Develops, maintains and facilitates support groups to enhance the quality of care and supports patients and their families.
• Coordinates support groups with local agencies and health care providers to prevent duplication of services and to better address the needs of the patient population.
• Provides education to clinic staff regarding skills and knowledge specific to the role of a masters-prepared social worker (MSW) in a medical practice; serves as a resource and expert to clinic staff and providers in managing patients with psychological needs, the impact of social and behavioral determinants on health care outcomes and in addressing issues such as compassion fatigue/satisfaction and secondary trauma amongst staff.
• Provides information about appropriate community resources to patients and families to assist them in accessing a wide variety of services.
• Develops and maintains working relationships with community agencies, health care organizations, and other providers to promote a broad base of support for patients and families.
• Acts as a patient/family advocate in negotiating the health care system. Help to facilitate communication between patient/family and medical team.
• Documents all interventions in EMR accurately, appropriately and timely.
• Provides professional presentations to groups and organizations to facilitate public understanding of the psychosocial and psychological aspects of the cancer experience.
• Participates in quality improvement activities. May oversee the activities of staff providing coordination of services for patients.
• May supervise MSW Student Interns, review candidates, mentor, and proper documentation training.
• Demonstrates knowledge of age-specific differences in the patient population that include late adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and the elderly. This includes physiological, psychological, and developmental differences unique to each group.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree from an accredited program in this field.
• Current and valid clinical licensure in the state of practice, such as Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) is strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 2 years of professional experience in counseling, resource navigation, and case management.
• Experience working within value-based care models, particularly the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM), is a strong plus.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Requires corrected vision and hearing to normal range.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Requires exposure to communicable diseases, medical preparations, and other conditions common to an oncology/hematology clinic environment. Requires frequent interaction with patients and families, physicians and clinic staff, and external agencies and organizations.