Children's Hospital Los Angeles Expands Pediatric Mental Health Access with 100+ Social Workers

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has deployed more than 100 medical and psychiatric social workers to provide 24/7 behavioral health coverage across its inpatient and outpatient settings. The initiative, overseen by Sandy Himmelrich, LCSW, executive director of clinical support and care coordination, aims to meet rising demand driven by cost‑of‑living pressures, caregiver burnout, and broader healthcare insecurity.

The hospital’s model integrates social workers, psychologists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners to handle assessment, therapy, crisis response, and care coordination, reserving psychiatrist time for medication management and complex diagnostics. While the approach addresses a nationwide shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, the hospital has not published outcome data to demonstrate its effectiveness.