Cook Children’s Named to Newsweek’s America’s Greatest Workplaces 2024
This honor highlights Cook Children’s unwavering dedication to employee satisfaction, fostering a culture of belonging, and maintaining a motivated and engaged workforce.
Cook Children’s is proud to announce its inclusion in Newsweek’s prestigious list of America’s Greatest Workplaces 2024. The honor once again recognizes Cook Children’s as a top employer on the national level.
Newsweek, in collaboration with Plant-A Insights Group, conducted a large-scale employer study to recognize the nation’s top workplaces. The study encompassed over 1.5 million comprehensive company reviews from more than 250,000 employees, showcasing the best places to work across all industries in the United States.
“Being named one of the best workplaces in America by Newsweek is an incredible honor and a testament to the unwavering dedication of our remarkable team at Cook Children’s,” said Rick W. Merrill, President and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System. “Our employees are the heart and soul of this organization, and their compassion, resilience, and commitment to our Promise inspire me every day.”
The selection process for America’s Greatest Workplaces 2024 involved a rigorous five-stage evaluation. Initially, HR professionals were interviewed to identify key drivers of employee satisfaction. Following the interviews, a main employee survey gathered reviews from U.S. employees familiar with their employers. Additionally, an elaborate desk research project was conducted, collecting 15 KPIs relevant to a great employee experience, including social media reviews and information on corporate culture, work-life balance, and career opportunities.
“Finding a great workplace is an important decision that needs to factor in pay, respect, training and advancement as well as healthy work-life balance. Newsweek and market-data research firm Plant-A Insights are proud to publish ‘America’s Greatest Workplaces 2024,’ the second annual ranking that highlights companies which are committed to offering a positive and supportive working environment,” said Nancy Cooper, Global Editor in Chief of Newsweek.
Fostering a Nurturing Workplace and Exceptional Patient Care
In recent years, Cook Children’s launched several initiatives to uphold these gold standards, ensuring a healthy and happy workforce.
Through internal surveys and listening sessions, Cook Children’s identified burnout among employees at all levels and responded by implementing programs aimed at reducing stress and supporting employee well-being both on and off the job. This approach fosters a culture where employees feel like family and are encouraged to see the world through the eyes of others, be it patients, family, or staff.
Employee feedback has been instrumental in developing initiatives such as Employee Resource Groups, which support the diverse faces and voices within the organization. Cook Children’s comprehensive employee benefits includes primary care and mental health counseling for staff and their families, tuition reimbursement for career development, and expanded parental leave.
These efforts are designed to connect the dots for employee well-being, facilitating the delivery of safe, kind, respectful, collaborative, generous, and imaginative care to patients and their families.
“We have always strived to create a supportive, family-like environment where every employee feels valued and included," said Mr. Merrill. “This recognition reflects our collective efforts to make Cook Children’s not only a place of healing and hope for children but also a nurturing workplace for those who devote their lives to this vital mission. Thank you to each and every one of our employees for making Cook Children’s such a special place.”
About Cook Children’s Health Care System 
Cook Children’s is more than a health care system: we strive to be an extension of your family, growing with your child from their first steps to adulthood. By collaborating to deliver on our Promise—to improve the well-being of every child in our care and our communities, we connect the dots for our patients. Between primary and specialty. Between home and medical home. Between short-term care and long-term health.
Based in Fort Worth, Texas, we’re 9,700+ dedicated team members strong, passionately caring for over 2 million patient encounters each year. Our integrated, not-for-profit organization spans two medical centers (including our state-of-the-art location in Prosper), two surgery centers, a physician network, home health services and a health plan. It also includes Child Study Center at Cook Children's, Cook Children's Health Services Inc., and Cook Children's Health Foundation. In 2024, Forbes named Cook Children’s the top health care employer in the U.S., and third on the list of ‘America’s Best Large Employers.’
And our impact extends beyond the borders of Texas. We proudly treat children from virtually every state in the nation and 32 countries. By seeing the world through the eyes of children and their families from all backgrounds, we’re able to shape health care suited to them: connected by kindness, imagination and respect—with an extra dose of magical wonder.
Discover more at cookchildrens.org.
