Cook Children’s Named No. 1 in Health Care on Forbes 2024 “America’s Best Large Employers” List

Cook Children’s Health Care System earned a top spot on Forbes 2024 America’s Best Large Employers award list, coming in at No. 3 out of a lineup of 600. The rank acknowledges something we already knew — Cook Children’s is one of the best places to work among all large businesses across all industries nationwide.  To add to our impressive showing, we were named No. 1 in the "health care and social services" industry category among large employers on the list. To view the entire list, click here and scroll down. 

Rankings are determined by a survey of thousands of Americans working for large companies defined as having more than 5,000 employees. The survey was administered by a national market research firm. Respondents remain anonymous and the companies on the list do not pay a fee to be included.

“It’s a huge honor to be recognized in this way on such a national level because it speaks directly to the culture we are working so hard to build here. One where our employees feel valued, supported and connected to our Promise, to our patients and to each other,” said Rick W. Merrill, Cook Children’s President and CEO. “It’s our people that make this place magical, and now the entire country is getting a glimpse of that magic.”

A number of criteria was used in the survey to evaluate companies, including working hours, gender pay equity, opportunities for training and promotion, workload expectations, parental leave benefits, the degree of diversity on the management team and whether employees would recommend the company to their friends and family, according to Forbes.

In recent years, Cook Children’s launched a number of initiatives to promote many of these gold standards for growing a healthy and happy workforce.

Healthy and Happy Employees Lead To Excellence

Working in health care can be personally and professionally fulfilling, but it’s no secret that it can also be hard. The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on health care workers across the globe, and exposed the burnout weighing on physicians, nurses and staff. Several internal surveys and listening sessions gave us a glimpse into the burnout Cook Children’s employees at all levels of the organization were experiencing.

“Our listening strategy is an investment in our people. Honest feedback helps us discover opportunities to improve and helps bring together leaders and teams to collaborate on solutions. No matter what your role is at Cook Children’s, your well-being matters,” said Kathy McLean, Cook Children’s Vice President of Brand and Team Experience.

In response, we are making meaningful changes and developing programs that reduce stress, support employee well-being both on and off the job, and cultivate a culture where employees feel like family.

“When we use our culture to build everything – from system strategies to our day-to-day work – we can deliver care that puts our employees and the children at the forefront of everything we do,” Kathy said.

It all starts with seeing the world through the eyes of others, whether it’s patients, family or staff. This gives us a unique perspective on where things are working well, as well as the opportunities we have to grow and evolve. Your feedback has been the catalyst for initiatives like the Employee Resource Groups supporting the many faces and voices within our organization, and the effort to reduce waste through a program called LESS: Let’s Eliminate Senseless Stuff.

We’ll be talking a lot more about LESS in the near future, but the idea is to identify processes within the business of health care that do not add value to patient care or to your workday and should therefore be eliminated. It can be an outdated process, an unnecessary step in documentation in the medical record, or anything that does not benefit our patients or our staff members.

“We want every individual and leader to feel empowered to eliminate waste and make every precious action meaningful,” said Megan Chavez, Cook Children’s vice president of Experience.

In all of our employee benefit efforts — from providing primary care and mental health counseling for you and your families through Care ATC, to supporting your career development through tuition reimbursement, to expanded parental leave — our goal is to connect the dots for your well-being. We know that helps pave the way for the safe, kind, respectful, collaborative, generous and imaginative care of our patients and their families. A healthy, valued and supported workforce allows us all to deliver on our shared Promise of “Everything for the child.”

“You cannot pour from an empty cup,” Megan said. “We believe in protecting the noble profession of caring for others by protecting our staff’s well-being and allowing them the autonomy they need to bring their best self to the job. We have the honor of caring for families, often on their worst day. That can take a toll, and we recognize and support the healing needed to continue to be present for the next situation we will encounter.”

A Place Where Magic Happens

Rick Merrill knows first-hand how connecting the dots leads to magical experiences for staff and patients. Years ago, a chance encounter with a 10-year-old patient during rounds on the cancer unit led to Mr. Merrill becoming a camp buddy to that patient. The friendship that emerged with the patient and his family made an indelible impact on Mr. Merrill and the significance he finds in his work at Cook Children’s. When the patient passed away after a long and brave fight with a rare disease, the family even asked Mr. Merrill to speak at their child’s memorial.

If you visit the Infusion Unit, you’ll see a painting there depicting a beautiful underwater seascape created by this patient who was also a talented artist.

The patient named everything in the painting, portraying himself as a smiling dolphin breaching the water. The whales are his doctors, the sun is God, the schools of fish, his nurses. At the center of the painting is an oyster with a pearl inside. The pearl is Cook Children’s and the oyster is Mr. Merrill because, as the patient once told his nurses, “{Rick. Merrill} is the protector of Cook Children’s.”

“That is about as meaningful and fulfilling as it gets in any career or job that you could choose,” Mr. Merrill said. “It really illustrates the power of connection, and the profound impact we have in pediatric health care. The truth is, we are all protectors of Cook Children’s. I know these magical moments are happening day in and day out all throughout our organization. It’s what makes this place special, and we’ll continue working to make this a place that our employees are proud to come to every day.”