Our Goals

Our medical social workers respond with integrity, dignity and respect in providing support and promoting family-centered care through education, empowerment and collaboration with the medical team and the community. Our team is trained to address your family’s needs in accessing health care, bridging communication between the hospital setting and a patient’s family life, home and community. 

All of our staff is masters-degree trained, with prior medical social work experience to make your stay as comfortable and informative as possible. By understanding the patient and family’s concerns, we can assist in developing care options and plans that meet your child’s health, developmental and emotional needs.

Services Offered

  • Catastrophic or chronic illness
  • Coping with diagnosis, illness or hospitalization
  • Impact of illness on family members
  • Parenting and care-giving concerns
  • Grief, loss or end-of-life concerns
  • Family issues or conflicts
  • Clarification of custody issues or judicial consent for treatment
  • Suspected child abuse or neglect
  • Developmental or life changes
  • Violence in home or community
  • Cultural differences
  • Behavioral problems
  • School or educational concerns
  • Financial difficulties
  • Basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, transportation
  • Accommodations for hospital stay; Ronald McDonald House reservations
  • Access to community resources
  • Behavioral health concerns and need for outpatient referrals
  • Support group referrals  

Your Privacy

Confidentiality of all communications between a social worker and patient, parent or legal guardian is protected by law.  Social workers communicate information with the medical team only on an “as needed” basis to help coordinate the best possible care planning. 

With certain legal exceptions, all communications with a social worker can be released with the written consent of the patient, parent or legal guardian. In cases of suspected abuse or neglect, a social worker may be required to disclose confidential communication in order to meet the legal requirements of the law. If you have any questions about our confidentiality policy, please ask your social worker.

Contacting a Social Worker

Social workers meet with patients and families during the child's hospitalization and/or at a clinic visit.

Our Monday-Friday hours office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and we can be reached at (757) 668-7273. We have on-call social workers for emergent needs outside of our daytime office hours. 

During the week, a social worker who is able to accept all in-house referrals is stationed in the Emergency Center until 11 p.m. On the weekends, a social worker is in-house from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For after-hours service, social work can be reached through the hospital's nursing supervisor at (757) 668-7000.

You can also ask your nurse, physician or other care provider to request a social worker. 

Support Groups

We organize and conduct various support groups in the hospital and help families become involved in others throughout Hampton Roads. To learn more about support groups affiliated with CHKD, visit our Support Group section.