Karen Love Retires After Eight Years Leading Cook Children's Health Plan

After eight years of dedicated leadership, Karen Love, MHA, is retiring as president of Cook Children's Health Plan, leaving behind a legacy of advocacy, innovation and service to children and families across Texas.

During her tenure, Karen helped guide the health plan through significant growth and transformation while maintaining a steadfast commitment to improving the health and well-being of members and the communities Cook Children's serves.

"Karen's leadership has helped strengthen Cook Children's Health Plan and has positioned it for the future," said Rick Merrill, president and CEO of Cook Children's Health Care System. "She has been a passionate advocate for children and families, a trusted leader through times of change and challenge, and a champion for the team. Her impact on this organization and the members we serve will be felt for years to come."

Karen's career has been rooted in a simple belief: community-based health care delivers the best outcomes for patients and families.

"I love that I'm ending my career in community-based care because I believe that model is the best model for delivering care to families," Karen said. "It's the model that allows the involved health care providers, the payer and other community supportive organizations to get around the same table and agree on what's best for the patient."

Since joining Cook Children's Health Plan in 2018, Karen has led the organization through numerous milestones, including the implementation of Epic as its managed care platform, earning accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance and bringing behavioral health services in-house to better coordinate care for members.

She also helped strengthen the STAR Kids program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and today serves approximately 8,000 medically complex children and young adults across Texas.

Throughout those accomplishments, Karen credits the health plan's success to the people around her.

"We just had major initiative after major initiative that overlapped, and we were able to pull them off really well," Karen said. "We have such a great team."

That team-centered leadership became especially important during recent challenges facing Cook Children's Health Plan. Karen said she was continually inspired by the commitment and resilience of team members across the organization, as well as the support provided by leaders throughout the Cook Children's system.

"You know, from Marketing, Government Relations or Legal, or any place else within the system, we got the resources we needed because we are an integral part of the system," Karen said.

While Karen is retiring from her role, she remains confident in the future of Cook Children's Health Plan and the mission that has guided her career.

Looking ahead, she believes Cook Children's will continue finding innovative ways to partner with communities and meet the evolving needs of children and families.

As retirement begins, Karen looks forward to spending more time with her husband, children and grandchildren, as well as enjoying opportunities to travel and relax.

As we celebrate Karen's retirement, we also celebrate the difference she has made at Cook Children's. Through her commitment to community-based health care, her leadership during times of transformation and her unwavering dedication to children and families, Karen leaves Cook Children's Health Plan stronger and well-positioned for the future.