Connect Newsletter (Dec. 8, 2022)

Dodson Specialty Clinics Expansion: Swimming Pools and Football Fields and Elephants, Oh My!

What has enough concrete to fill eight Olympic-sized swimming pools, duct work that equals the weight of 32 male African elephants and 160-miles of wiring that could circle a football field more than 600 times?

It is the newest addition to the Cook Children’s Medical Center campus, which adds 240,000 square feet and six new services to the existing Dodson Specialty Clinics building.  Click here to read all the details and find out some fun and interesting facts about the new expansion project.

Jingle Mingle Begins Friday, Dec. 9

Employees working at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, the 901 building, Dodson Specialty Clinics, ROB and 750 office building are invited to join us for the Jingle Mingle on Friday, Dec. 9, under the tent on Pruitt Plaza (the walkway between the 7th Ave. garage and the Medical Center).

This year’s holiday celebration for our employees is a come and go event that includes delicious food, holiday music and mingling with colleagues. Your ticket to enter is your employee badge. See “helpful things to know before you go." Click here to learn all the details.

Jingle Mingle: Other Cook Children's Locations

For our clinics and offices located beyond our Fort Worth campus, and for our 100% remote teams, we invite you to plan your team's holiday festivities in December. And to help with this, we have a special inter-department transfer (IDT) to assist with the cost of food and beverages. Click here for more details on how to use the IDT. To access the holiday IDT form to submit, please click “Holiday IDT Form” under “Downloads” that you will find on the top right of this page. If you are viewing this on your phone, the form will be at the bottom of the newsletter.

2022 Holiday Extravaganza!

You are invited to attend our annual Holiday Extravaganza at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10, outside the Medical Center in Fort Worth.

Learn about this all-outdoor extravaganza, including Santa's visit, outdoor games, activities, refreshments, entertainment, the tree lighting and of course, fireworks.

Note: We will make every effort to hold this event. Depending on weather, we may have to alter the evening's planned activities and that may include the cancellation of fireworks. If we have severe weather that day, please check your work email or click here for updates. 

Virtual Holiday Sweater

Wear your festive (patient/work appropriate) holiday attire and enter the holiday sweater contest Dec. 9-12.  Your entry and photo are due by 11:50 p.m. on Monday, Dec 12. 

You have three categories to compete in:

• Most Original Individual 
• Funniest Individual
• Best Group Theme

To Enter: Participation forms and photos must be emailed to Amy.Smith@cookchildrens.org by midnight, Dec. 12. For complete contest details and an entry form, access the “Virtual Holiday Sweater Contest” that you will find under “Downloads” on your top right of this page. If you are viewing this on your phone, the form will be at the bottom of the newsletter.

Guidelines: Employee attire must be child/workplace friendly

A Reminder About Special Visitors to Cook Children's

We are excited that we will once again be hosting notable athletes, celebrities and others who generously give of their time to visit the patients at Cook Children's during the holidays. Please remember that these visits are for our patients. 

Our child life staff works hard to organize these events so that every patient has the opportunity to participate.  As a staff member of Cook Children's, it is your responsibility to represent the medical center in a professional manner.  Approaching the visitors, asking for autographs, photos or memorabilia and soliciting professional contacts are considered inappropriate behavior.  To respect patient privacy, there should be no pictures or videos made by employees. Cook Children's values the relationships that we have forged with these special visitors, and we are proud of the quality programming experiences we are able to provide for our patients.  Your cooperation in making this year just as successful is greatly appreciated.

As a reminder, please take a moment to review our social media policy. You must be on the network to view the policy.

Checking in on Our Checkup Newsroom

It was another busy week on our Checkup Newsroom. Find out what our experts told the public about the following:

• Cook Children's Dietitians Offer Guidance on Hard-to-Find Infant Formula
• Raising Joy Podcast: Improving the Medical Response to Kids Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis
• Flu A Cases Decline but Still Remain High at Cook Children's
• Child Life Specialist Shares How Parents Play a Vital Role as Their Child's Advocate