Rosy NY Times Coverage of Discharge Planners

On June 6, my phone rang with the call of Jan Hoffman, a writer for the New York Times.  With a little bit of excitement and a little bit of anxiety, I prodded the reporter to know more about what kind of a story she was writing about social work.  This could be a great opportunity to highlight the important work of social work on a national stage and I was eager to learn more about her story.  She had also consulted with Pat Volland, a social work leader, from the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) for this story.

I was pleased to hear Ms. Hoffman tell me that she had been shadowing an exemplary social worker, Alicia Tennenbaum, a discharge planner at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.  She wanted to learn more about national trends in discharge planning and I provided her with some information.

She read to me from her drafted story, and asked for confirmation on the facts.  This was a terrific and unique opportunity presented to NASW to help shape a NY Times article.  Ms. Tennenbaum had done an excellent job of portraying social workers as competent, educated, and resourceful professionals in her profile.  NASW thanks you for participating in this story.

While her article was accurate and well-written, my only suggestion to Ms. Hoffman was that she was only portraying stories of the most difficult discharge patients, those who had complex needs and presented a significant challenge to Ms. Tennenbaum and the hospital staff.  There were plenty of patients, I was sure, with whom Ms. Tennenbaum had worked who had everything go as planned.  I suggested “adding more roses” to the story and she took my advice to make sure that she wasn’t only showing the most difficult patients.

After reading the finished product in the New York Times on June 19, NASW was thrilled with the article and was glad to see that the she notes how Ms. Tennenbaum goes the extra mile to help her patients with important items like clothing.  We were so happy that not only was a social worker portrayed in such a good light, but that the NY Times came to NASW and to NYAM as sources for information about the profession.  Social workers in all practice areas have significant expertise to help reporters shape stories about important social issues. 

Read the article, In the Trenches: Hospital Discharge Planner Bridging the Gaps Between Hospital and Home, and tell us what you think. 

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