Connect Newsletter (Jan. 8, 2026)

Cook Children’s Earns Pinnacle of Excellence for Patient Experience 

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

“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.” 

Read more about this prestigious recognition on Connect Newsroom. 

If You Use Kronos in Any Capacity, Read This Message:   

Kronos will be replaced with the UKG Workforce Management System. To ensure your schedules, paychecks and PTO are correct, all staff are required to complete the UKG Workforce Management Training by the launch (go-live) date on Feb. 8, 2026.  

Training modules tailored to your role and scheduling responsibilities are now available on ULearn. Failure to complete this training may result in errors regarding your: 

• Paychecks 

• Time clock submissions / schedules 

• PTO submissions 

Access the required training on ULearn. 

For more information, visit CookNet. 

IMPORTANT: Cooper Street Closed Friday through Sunday 

As we begin building the new West Tower, impacts on local roads and thoroughfares are to be expected. To ensure a smooth journey, it is highly recommended to plan ahead for your commute and allow extra time to reach your destination and report for your shift at your scheduled time.

All lanes will be closed Jan. 9-11 on Cooper Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues.

For other up-to-date traffic updates, please bookmark this page. It will be updated often and will include major street closures, pedestrian sidewalk closures and any potential reroutes.

For more general information on the growth and development across the system, visit our "We're Growing” page.

Microsoft 365 Apps Automatic Update Coming Next Week

We are transitioning all Cook Children’s computers to the latest Microsoft 365 (M365) desktop applications. You can self-install M365 apps via the Software Center. Visit the Connect Newsroom for more details: M365: You Can Now Self-Install Microsoft 365 Apps

We strongly encourage you to do this now to control when your computer restarts and updates.

Any computers that have not been updated voluntarily will be automatically updated starting on Jan. 13, 2026.

Here’s how that will work:

If your machine is on but you’re not logged in: The M365 Apps installation will install on its own. This can occur any time starting on Jan. 13, 2026.

If you are logged into your computer: Users will be prompted to install Microsoft 365 Apps to your computer. You will get three pop up prompts on your computer letting you know when to move forward.

Please read the instructions for full details under the downloads tab on the right-hand side of this page. 

New Annual Safety Review Course Available Now

The 2026 Annual Training curriculum has been assigned to all employees and must be completed by Aug. 1, 2026, as part of the Performance and Development review process. We've launched new Cook Children’s-specific course with the following improvements:

• Slimmed-down content that focuses on key points to reduce the amount to time it takes to complete.
• Test questions at the end of each segment instead of all lumped together at the end of the course so the content is still fresh in your mind.
• Test-out option is available by segment instead of the entire course for convenience.
• Total number of test questions has been reduced to save time, and the questions with confusing wording have been revised.
• Best of all, there are now a “clinical” and “non-clinical” version of the course, so the content is more applicable to your role. 

We hope these changes will help improve the overall learning experience! You have been assigned the 2026 required education curriculum, which supports regulatory compliance (Joint Commission, CMS, OSHA) and key organizational priorities that help keep our patients, families, and workforce safe.

Retirement Announcement

Pam Berry, RN, Staff for the Psychiatry-Partial Hospital Program, is retiring from Cook Children’s Medical Center on Jan. 30.

Pam has been at Cook Children’s in the Psychiatric Department for almost 22 years. During that time, she has made a profound impact on the lives of kids from hard places. Pam is known for the kindness and empathy that she shows all that she comes in contact with. She has been an instrumental in creating a family-like atmosphere in Partial Hospitalization Program. Pam will be deeply missed by her team. 

We wish Pam all the best as she begins this new chapter in her life, congratulations! We encourage you to take a moment to send Pam a farewell note by Jan. 29.

Share Your Content with Us

Do you have any tips, ideas or content you would like us to know about? We want to hear from you! Please view our SharePoint site and email us at InternalCommunications@cookchildrens.org. 

Check our CookNet calendar for more system-wide events and to find more content about our employees and news you need to know, bookmark our Connect Newsroom website.