Supporting Your Family

Social Work Services

The social workers of NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital are key members of each child's healthcare team, working with children and their families to help manage the complexities of the hospital stay. With decades of experience, our social workers are committed to educating parents, serving as advocates, and facilitating communication during and after the hospital stay. They perform psychosocial assessments, provide counseling and support to help you and your family cope with the emotional stresses of illness and hospitalization, assist with discharge planning to ensure continuity of care for your child, and provide referrals to community services and resources.

The Department of Social Work at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital maintains an integrated, collaborative partnership with your child's medical and nursing staff. Social workers are key members of teams that provide family-centered care for pediatric patients at the point of their initial visit to one of our outpatient centers or when they arrive at the hospital for inpatient admission.

The mission of the Department of Social Work is to:

  • Enable you and your family to identify and use your strengths to cope with illness and disability
  • Assist you in developing the most effective and efficient plan for continuous care for your child
  • Maximize your use of medical and psychosocial care
  • Prevent and minimize negative social and psychological consequences of illness and hospitalization
  • Provide assistance with newborn care, maternal education, and parenting

Social workers are available on site at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in a variety of areas from 8 am to midnight on weekdays and from 8:30 am to 5 pm on weekends. The members of our department represent a wide range of cultures. The languages spoken by our staff include Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, Haitian Creole, and French.

Who We Are

Social workers are a group of licensed professionals with master's degrees in social work who provide the following services to patients and their families in both inpatient and outpatient settings at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital:

  • Assessment of patients' and families' needs
  • Emotional support
  • Discharge planning
  • Advocacy
  • Patient and family counseling
  • Serving as a liaison between the medical team, patient, and family
  • Crisis intervention
  • Referrals to resources
  • Collaborating with community agencies
  • Bereavement counseling
  • Adoption counseling
  • Maternal/newborn health

Where You Can Find Us

Assigned throughout NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, social workers can be found in the emergency room, inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and special programs, including:

Inpatient Units

  • 4 Tower, which includes general pediatric medicine, pediatric orthopedics, and pediatric surgery
  • 5 Tower, which includes general pediatric medicine, pediatric oncology, and pediatric hematology/bone marrow transplantation
  • 6 Tower, which includes general pediatric medicine, pediatric cardiology, and pediatric neurology
  • 7 Tower, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
  • 8 Central, which includes general pediatric medicine
  • Pediatric Critical Care Unit, which includes 9 North and 9 Central
  • Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Unit, which includes the Pediatric Heart Transplant Program
  • Alexandra & Steven Cohen Children's Emergency Department
  • Charna's Kids Club Sibling Program

Sloane Hospital for Women Inpatient Units

  • 5 Central, antepartum unit
  • 6 Central, postpartum unit
  • 10 Tower, Labor and Delivery

Outpatient Divisions

  • Sue and John L Weinberg Cystic Fibrosis Center
  • Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center
  • Pediatric Oncology
  • Pediatric Liver/Short Intestine
  • Pediatric Nephrology (Dialysis/Transplant)
  • NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network
  • Other specialties

How to Contact Your Social Worker

  • Ask the unit assistant, bedside nurse, or medical team to page the social worker.
  • Call and ask for the appropriate social worker to contact you.