Cook Children's Disaster Recovery Manager Wins Top Award
By Arianna Flores
The Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI), the world's leader for business continuity and disaster recovery, has named Johnathan Offringa, Disaster Recovery Manager, its Program Leader of the Year – Nonprofit Sector. The award highlights Offringa's exceptional work in preparing our healthcare system for any potential crisis that affect information systems.
The DRI is the oldest and largest nonprofit that helps organizations around the world prepare for and recover from disasters by providing education, accreditation, and leadership in business continuity, disaster recovery, cyber resilience. The award was given to Johnathan in Las Vegas where over 22 countries and 300 companies were in attendance. This is the first award given to Johnathan and the Information Systems Department.
Johnathan said this internationally recognized award came as a shock and blessing to him. An anonymous nomination put him in the mix for the award, a nod to his hard work and the skills he's brought to Cook Children’s.
During Johnathan’s tenure, he has not only helped us follow industry standards but excelled in working to ensure our patients and staff will be safe in the event of a crisis. The team is continually planning for worst-case scenarios, to protect the overall operation and production of Medical Center-Fort Worth.
“It’s not ‘if,’ but ‘when,’ ” Johnathan said. “From a healthcare perspective, our goal is whenever something does happen, we will ensure that we are able to get systems back up and running as soon as possible so we can resume patient care." 
Johnathan said he and his team continue to learn more about how to best recover in a crisis by earning accreditations through the DRI and the mentorship of team leaders.
“Without the leadership, guidance, and commitment from the Information Services leadership team to maturing the IS Disaster Recovery Program here at Cook Children’s, it would not have been possible to reach this accomplishment,” he said of the award.
Aaron Wishon, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, has high praise for Johnathan's work.
“His peers and leaders across the IT and other parts of the Cook Children’s organization have raved about his excellent communication skills and collaboration during the implementation of his program,” Aaron said.
“This effort and leadership are the difference between having disaster recovery programs that look good on paper versus one that goes above and beyond and is resilient and real-world battle tested that gives us the confidence that we’re ready to face a disaster,” Aaron added.
Thank you, Johnathan, for your commitment to our Promise and congratulations for earning this prestigious award.