Connect Newsletter (Dec. 30, 2025)

2026 Primary Care and Mental Health Benefits: Upcoming Changes and Enhancements

To better serve employees and their covered families in 2026, Cook Children's will be transitioning to a new partnership with Texas Health Physicians Group (THPG). This will replace the current CareATC benefit. To launch our new service, we will begin in Prosper. 

Texas Health Family Care - Prosper will open in early January 2026. The facility will be a six-to-eight-minute drive East of the Prosper Campus at 1970 W. University Drive #100. Employees will find:

1. Reserved appointment times exclusively for Cook Children's and covered family members (18+).

2. Access to over 1,600 primary care visits in 2026 at no cost or low cost.

Cook Children's and THPG Fort Worth is slated to open in spring 2026. During this time Care ATC Fort Worth will still be available.

Please visit Connect Newsroom for more information and stay tuned for more details. 

UKG Management System Training Available Now

Who Needs Training?
All staff involved with schedules, timecards, and PTO submissions in UKG (Kronos)
All leaders with direct reports who manage timecards, schedules, and PTO approvals
All staff who use or manage Advanced Schedules (such as inpatient units and Emergency Department)
**Please note training was assigned based on who has access to manage advanced schedules. If you no longer are in that role but were mistakenly assigned Managing Advanced Scheduling training, please email Rhiannon.McDonnell@cookchildrens.org 

What is UKG Workforce Management?
On Feb. 8, 2026, UKG-Workforce Management goes live, replacing our current Kronos tool. UKG makes timekeeping, scheduling, & related activities more streamlined & easier to use. To help you understand what’s changing and what this means for your day-to-day experience, we have the following tools:

• Interactive CBTs, each roughly five to seven minutes long, available in role specific learning paths in ULearn. Please note this training is critical to using the new schedule & timekeeping system & ensuring your paychecks are correct! These lessons can be taken at your own pace. To help with retention, we recommend completing lessons over several days or weeks rather than all at once. Knowing staff may have some slower moments during the holiday season, we wanted to release this training to you now!
• The UKG Resources Site on CookNet has the following helpful resources:
  • This ​short overview video​ for a first look at the new system in action!
  • Role specific ​“What’s Changing” guides​ breaking down updates based on your role.
  • Step-by-step tip sheets will be available as we approach Go Live. 

Where can you find your Training?
Click on the links below to access your training in ULearn.

Occupational Health New Year's Holiday Schedule 

The Occupational Health Clinic will have adjusted hours of operation for the new year's holiday.  

• Wednesday, Dec. 31
  • Closed at 2 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 1
  • Closed
• Friday, Jan. 2
  • Open during regular clinic hours 

When the clinic is closed, if you have a work-related injury, call your campus House Supervisor and ask for a return call.  The on-call Occupational Health nurse will contact you by telephone. For more information visit the Occupational Health CookNet page.

Join us for Prosper Medical Center Playground Opening on Jan. 9

Please join us for the ribbon cutting of the new playground at 9 a.m. on Friday Jan. 9, 2026, at Medical Center - Prosper. 

See you there! 

Thank You to the Raising Joy Podcast

After six seasons more than 100 guests, Cook Children’s Raising Joy Podcast has posted its final episode. And the podcast is ending right where it got started: with a conversation with our very first guest, a Cook Children’s pediatrician with a finger on the pulse of DFW parents and kids, Kathleen Powderly, M.D.

What started as an outlet to open the conversation around youth mental health issues, developed into the JOY Campaign covering a variety of topic regarding mental health, depression, anxiety and other issues.

To learn more about the Raising Joy Podcast and how it has impacted our patients and community visit Checkup Newsroom. 

Cook Children’s Recognized Nationally for Safety Innovation in the 2025 SPS SHINE Report

Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS)—a Pediatric Healthcare Safety and Quality Collaborative of more than 150 pediatric hospitals across the U.S. and Canada—has recognized Cook Children’s in two categories: Excellence in CLABSI Reduction in the NICU and Recognition in Proactive Safety. 

To learn more about this recognition visit Connect Newsroom.  

Share Your Content with Us

Do you have any tips, ideas or content you would like us to know about heading into the new year? We want to hear from you! Please view our SharePoint site and email us at InternalCommunications@cookchildrens.org. Check out our CookNet calendar for more events. 

To find more content about our employees and news you need to know, bookmark our Connect Newsroom website.