This work investigates the historical evolution and integration of social work within the medical framework of Mount Sinai Hospital over the course of a century. The authors, Helen Rehr and Gary Rosenberg, utilize institutional archives and professional records to document the shifting relationship between clinical medicine and social services. They argue that the collaboration between these two disciplines is essential for addressing the psychosocial determinants of patient health within a complex hospital environment.

Experts in the field of medical social work recognize this text as a significant historical record of institutional practice. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the value of the primary source material for understanding the development of hospital-based social services.