Shirley Otis-Green, LCSW is the Clinical Program Manager for the Supportive Care and Palliative Medicine Department at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.  There she is responsible for program planning, development and management of various integrative psychosocial services.  She created and coordinates the Transitions Program, which offers enhanced end of life psycho-educational services for the dying, the bereaved and those who care for them, where she is responsible for staff supervision, research, budgeting and fund-raising. Shirley is a co-founder of the San Gabriel Valley End of Life Community Coalition. 

Additionally, she is the designated social worker for the Interdisciplinary Pain Management Team, the facilitator of several support groups, and a member of multiple medical center committees. She is the recipient of numerous professional and educational honors including the inaugural Heart of Hope Award at City of Hope and the Southern California Cancer Pain Initiative’s Award of Excellence.  Shirley recently received a Social Work Leadership Development Award from the Project on Death in America for her work on enhancing end of life and bereavement support services for Latinos.  She is a research consultant for various quality of life grants in collaboration with the Department of Nursing Education and Research with whom she has co-authored numerous publications.  Shirley is a community educator and has presented at professional conferences throughout the United States and Canada. She provides psychosocial assessments, crisis intervention, advocacy and support services to patients and their families as they cope with life-threatening situations.  Her professional interests revolve around end of life care and integrated symptom management.

Shirley received her Master of Social Work Degree from the University of Hawaii, and her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.  She is a member of the Association of Oncology Social Work, the National Association of Social Workers, the Academy of Certified Social Workers and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Prior to coming to the City of Hope, Shirley has worked in the areas of hospice, foster care, teen pregnancy and sexual abuse.  She has done private practice in adoption work and has taught a semester long course at the University of Hawaii School of Social Work.