Cook Children’s brings a familiar online presence to a new audience, with the arrival of a Spanish-language newsroom
For more than six years, Cook Children’s online newsroom has provided the latest in pediatric health news to more than 16 million people in 230 different countries.
But during all that time, the team behind the scenes felt they had more to accomplish. At the top of their list was creating an online Spanish language presence. This month, they reached their goal with the publication of Checkup Newsroom En Español.
This new newsroom is in Spanish, with content written and approved by Cook Children’s pediatricians and health care providers.
“We know the importance of sharing up-to-date and evidence-based information with our patients and their families,” said Bianka Soria-Olmos, D.O., a Cook Children’s pediatrician and primary contributor to the webpage. “Checkup Newsroom is hugely important for getting out timely and relevant health information. With our community being so diverse, we realize making this information available in Spanish is necessary.”
The addition of the Spanish-language newsroom builds on Cook Children’s ‘Promise’ to improve the health of every child through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for credible health information in the Hispanic community. According to Tarrant County Public Health, 27% of COVID-19 cases are among Hispanics, making it the most affected group by race and ethnicity. Further, Texas’ Hispanic population has grown by more than 2 million since 2010 and the state's demographer predicts that Hispanics will be the state's largest population group by mid-2021.
“We are so happy that Cook Children’s is making so many efforts to be inclusive,” said Vicki Kelley, Family-Centered Care Program Manager, who oversees the Hispanic Family Advisory Council at Cook Children’s. “All parents want to do what’s best for their children. Having an online presence such as Checkup Newsroom gives parents a great resource to find helpful and accurate information for their kids.”
The addition of the Spanish-language newsroom is the latest in some big moves from Cook Children’s in the way of diversity and inclusion. Last month, the system promoted Winifred King, former Assistant Vice President of Public Relations, Corporate Communications and Social Media, to become its first-ever Chief Diversity Officer.
“The publication of our Spanish newsroom is a great next step in our diversity and inclusion efforts at Cook Children’s,” King said. “We’ve talked about making this happen for many years, but were limited in time and resources. The timing just felt right, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, we know this information is needed now more than ever.”
