Cook Children’s Health Care System was awarded the 2025 Pinnacle of Excellence Award for our inpatient experience from Press Ganey.   

This prestigious recognition reflects the consistent dedication and hard work that takes place at Cook Children's. Drawing on three years of data, this award places the health care system in the top three pediatric organizations in the country for overall patient rating and the likelihood of families to recommend for care.   

Press Ganey is a global leader in health care experience solutions and collaborates with more than 41,000 health care facilities to enhance overall safety, quality and experience of care.  

Following the Guardian of Excellence awards in 2023 and 2024, Cook Children’s has now reached a new peak. This latest honor represents the highest achievement awarded to the organization from Press Ganey further cementing Cook Children's unwavering commitment to the patient experience. 

“Caring for children requires more than clinical excellence. It requires heart,” Megan Chavez, Senior Vice President, Chief Experience Officer said. “This award is a testament to the many ways our teams turn fear into comfort and uncertainty into hope. The exceptional experiences created for children and their families through kindness, teamwork and dedication create a safe and healing experience for every child.” 

Despite this rapid growth, Cook Children's remains steadfast in its Promise that every child receives the very best care. The health care system dedicates this achievement to all 10,000 members of its team. Every employee plays a vital role in shaping a family’s experience and upholding a legacy of award-winning care. 

Medical Director of Infectious Diseases, Suzanne Whitworth, M.D., hosted a Q&A with reporters to answer questions about this change. 

Why does Cook Children’s need to reinstate this visitation policy?

We have been keeping a close eye on community numbers for COVID-19 and we know that they have gone up dramatically over the last five or six days. In thinking through that, we want our patients in the hospital and our staff to have less exposure to the community. So this, conceivably, has 200 less people in the building during the day, which is going to reduce exposures. That's really the main goal.

How difficult was it to reach this decision?

It’s terrible to reach this decision because we're all parents, and we are doing our best in a really difficult time to try to keep everybody safe. The adult hospitals have had no visitors and I don't know how they did that. These kids will at least have a parent or a relative at the bedside 24 hours a day if they want to. They won't be alone. We just feel like this is the safest thing for everyone.

When will this restriction be lifted?

We are going to lift the restriction when we feel like it's safe for our patients and families to do so, and also safe for our staff. So it would have to be at a time when community transmission is much lower than it is now. I don't have a number about that at this point, but we will wait and look forward to going back to having visitors when we feel like it's safe.

Are there exceptions for this rule?

We have exceptions for the emergency room and for end of life situations.

How is the morale of the staff at Cook Children’s?

I think everybody is doing really well. I think that we go to work with a goal and a mission. All of us want our lives back, me included. There’s still a sense of ‘When is this going to be over?’ But I think we're really lucky because we work with children who make you laugh and I think we all enjoy our jobs. So, I think generally, just being around the hospital, making rounds and having clinic, I think we're doing pretty well.

"There are a lot of patients who need specialized care or even higher levels of care and it’s really important that in this rapidly growing community that we have that available to these families," said Dr. Hogan, pediatricitian at Cook Children's Pediatrics Prosper Trail.

Dr. Hogan is one of 24 Cook Children's pediatricians currently treating patients in this region of North Texas. She says patients like hers need a place to access specialized and emergency pediatric care without having to drive 30 minutes to an hour away from home.

"A lot families have hardships and are not able to drive that far, or take off work all the time to go to these visits, and having this inpatient hospital and specialized care right her will make it easier for all the families," Dr. Hogan explained.

Construction of Cook Children's Medical Center North is in the initial phases with plans to have a full service hospital completed in 2022. The new hospital will be located on a 23-acre site in Prosper at Windsong Parkway and Highway 380. Having started in October of last year, phase one is already underway with plans to open a primary and urgent care clinic in the fall. An outpatient surgery center and specialty clinic with imaging and lab services will open in 2020.

"I'm really excited about the hospital opening up and being able to refer my patients to specialists, right here in Prosper, and being able to send my patients to get the specialized care that they need, having higher levels of care right across town," said Dr. Hogan. "I think that is going to be really wonderful for the families here."

Currently, Cook Children’s operates eight primary care offices in and around the Town of Prosper. The expansion near Windsong Ranch marks the first time in Cook Children's 101 year history that a full-service hospital has been built outside of Fort Worth.

"Just like the Town of Prosper is family, a close knit community, so is Cook Children’s," said Dr. Hogan. "We are all here wanting your children to be healthy and do better in life and be able to get the care they need to grow up to be happy and healthy adults."