Announcement of Organizational Changes and Promotions

I wanted to make you aware of several leadership changes on my team.

After more than four decades of faithful service to Cook Children’s, Deborah Rubinson, AVP, Education has announced her retirement, effective Oct. 9.

Deborah has truly been a clinical trailblazer, a champion for her teams and an innovator in the realms of Education and the Team Experience.

And just as important, Deborah has been such a wonderful leader for this organization. Along with her many achievements, she is known for her calm demeanor and tireless dedication to Cook Children’s.

Deborah loves ideas and welcomes each opportunity that comes her way. Most of all, she embraces imagination and change for the greater good, as long as it results in making Cook Children’s even better and stronger.

Let’s take a look at just a few of Deborah’s significant accomplishments at Cook Children’s. (It is no surprise she wanted to be sure others were recognized as part of this listing):

1. Deborah was one of two nurses to start the Cook Children’s Transport team along with Drs. Reber, Stanley and Turbeville.
2.  She began our Neonatal Outreach Education program and wrote grants to support the program. The program grew from neonatal, to include maternal and pediatric outreach with the help of Peggy Troy.
3. Following the completion of their doctoral degrees, Deborah and Paula Webb started the first accredited pediatric nurse residency program at Cook Children’s.
4. She was the first clinical informaticist at Cook Children’s. Before Epic or even Meditech, there was CDS - Clinical Documentation System, which Deborah developed in collaboration with two other hospitals. She credits Nancy Cychol and Paula Webb for their significant contributions during this time.
5. She wrote the grant and implemented the Telemedicine program, and offers thanks to Peggy Troy, Bobby Feather and Mary Kukolich.
6. She took the opportunity to start a leadership program that has continued to grow and be successful for more than 20 years.
7. She helped create the Simulation program at Cook Children’s, along with Dr. Joann Sanders, Nancy Cychol and Theresa Clark.
8. She partnered with Dr. Britt Nelson and myself in developing and implementing TCU’s Advancing Health Care Leadership program.
9. She is grateful to have learned so much about Talent Management and appreciates the opportunities she’s had to grow a department of Education into Organizational Development and Professional Development with seven departments and seven incredible leaders.  
10. Deborah believes her “secret power is hiring great people.” Under Deborah’s leadership, Randi McKinney developed, sustained and continues to grow our very successful Leadership Program. Another example is Becky Southworth, who made a long-awaited dream a reality by leading her team and creating an internationally recognized simulation program.

We are so thankful to Deborah for all that she has done for Cook Children’s. We are fortunate that she will remain on board in a consulting role for the foreseeable future.

As a result of this announcement, there are several other structural changes and promotions I am pleased to share. They include:

The areas of Clinical Education will transition to Chris Pedigo, SVP, System Planning, Health Analytics, The Center for Children’s Health; and Jamie Bankston has been named AVP, Education and Professional Development, and will report to Chris.

Jamie will oversee the following departments: Clinical Education, Simulation and Nurse Residency programs, Library Services, Academic Education, and Continuing Professional Education, Media Services and eLearning. Jamie’s leadership, tenure, professional and clinical experience, passion for developing others, and many other efforts have resulted in advancements for people and processes at Cook Children’s.

Oversight of the Team Experience, including Employee Engagement, and Organizational Development, will transition to Kathy McLean, who has been promoted to Vice President, Brand and Team Experience. Cami Dragomirescu has been named AVP, Organizational Development and Team Experience, and will report directly to Kathy.

Kathy has served Cook Children’s for more than 14 years, and most recently led the multi-year project to create the new culture platform and brand launch for our health care system. Kathy has helped bolster the reputation of our organization with her oversight of cookchildrens.org and all service-line marketing activities including our advertising initiatives. Her team is also responsible for Checkup magazine, the Doc Talk podcast and in tandem with IS, the physician star ratings review platform.

Always one to see the world through the eyes of our patients and families, Kathy will be responsible for shepherding in our new culture platform. Beginning Oct. 1, you'll see her work in action when our FY23 System Competency launches featuring the culture platform.

Cami has improved programs such as the Advancing Health Care Leadership Series with TCU and Executive Succession Planning; developed valuable tools for leaders; advanced the Team Experience; and led the Physician Burnout Survey in 2019, and the 2022 System Burnout Survey. Randi McKinney and Amy Walker will both report to Cami, along with two new strategic leadership coaches we are in the process of recruiting.

In other promotion news, Beth Schmidt, has been promoted to Vice President, Human Resources & Occupational Health.

For more than 28 years, we have been fortunate to have Beth’s sound guidance and wisdom at Cook Children’s. From helping create our onsite child care center, Kids’ Place, more than 20 years ago; to making the Wellness Zone a reality; adding an EAP component to our expansive CareATC offerings; creating our new employee referral program; guiding us through all things COVID, including helping us stand up our child care center with Camp Cook, Beth has been steadfast and pioneering in her dedication and commitment to Cook Children’s.

She’s a key leader on the implementation of the April 2023 launch of Workday, her fourth such people system at Cook Children’s, and her team is leading the recruitment and hiring of 330+ employees for our new medical center in Prosper. Her teams have also been tediously conducting compensation market reviews on every position in the system this year. Is there anything she can’t do? I can’t wait to watch what’s ahead as Beth continues to lead the teams in Compensation, Benefits, HRIS, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Occupational Health and Wellness.

As we remain focused on fulfilling Our Promise, please join me in congratulating all of these individuals on their new roles and promotions.

Watch for more specific details on these changes and the people involved from department leadership.