Cook Children's Health Care System

Cook Children's Medical Center (CCMC) - Fort Worth is the cornerstone of Cook Children's Health Care System. This 462-bed facility is home to top medical minds, advanced technologies, family-centered treatments and leading-edge clinical research, all designed to fulfill the System's Promise to improve the health and well-being of every child in our care and our communities. It is one of only 10 freestanding children's hospitals in the world to achieve Magnet designation with three consecutive re-designations from the American Nursing Credentialing Center, most recently in February 2021. Nationally recognized services such as the Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health, and the hematology and oncology center are leading the way in providing the highest level of care to families who travel to the medical center from all across Texas, the United States and internationally. From complicated surgeries and Level II trauma care to physical therapy and behavioral health services, CCMC offers a variety of services and amenities to meet the unique needs of every patient and family. By seeing the world through the eyes of children and their families from all backgrounds, we're able to shape health care suited to them: connected by kindness, imagination and respect and with an extra dose of magical wonder. Making History In January 2023, a team of 25 medical professionals, including six surgeons, made headlines around the world after the successful surgical separation of conjoined twins for the first time in Cook Children's 105-year history. Preparations to care for the twins in the hospital's NICU and for the subsequent separation surgery began months before their birth. The unique medical needs of the twins required imagination, a laser-focus on safety and skill, and collaboration among multiple specialties. Thanks to the efforts of this team, the 11-hour surgical separation was a success and, today, the twin sisters are enjoying their lives together, but separate. Raising Awareness In FY23, Cook Children's Medical Center - Fort Worth took action to address an alarming rise in sudden unexplained infant deaths (SUIDs) with a months-long safe sleep campaign. Between January 2022 and April 2023, CCMC saw 30 infant deaths linked to unsafe sleep situations, more than the number of fatal gunshot wounds and drownings combined and the highest peak since 2008. Demographic data showed the group with the highest unsafe sleep deaths were Black boys from 2 months to 6 months old. In April 2023, Cook Children's launched a safe sleep awareness campaign with a series of articles in its online newsroom, checkupnewsroom.org, covering everything from baby sleep training advice, to safe sleep practices and precautions, to talking with grandparents and babysitters about practicing safe sleep with your baby. When the number of admissions and visits for RSV, flu and viral illnesses strained the medical center, pediatric offices and urgent care centers in the fall and winter months, Cook Children's provided weekly community updates. It also asked for the community's help in limiting the spread of illness, taking children to the appropriate provider based on their condition, and encouraged patience during long wait times in busy ERs and urgent care centers. Telehealth remains a critical resource for the hospital, especially during times of intense viral spread. In the early days of COVID-19, Cook Children's took steps to increase its bandwidth to support the explosive growth in virtual health visits. Fiscal year 2023 virtual health visits totaled 56,312 across all of Cook Children's Health Care System. Raising Joy The Raising Joy Podcast, a product of Cook Children's suicide prevention JOY Campaign, premiered in March 2022, and aired its 50th episode in June 2023. Topics in FY23 covered everything from protecting children from abuse to the rise of child suicides to body image to parents sharing their personal experience losing a child to opioid abuse. In October 2022, the podcast hosted its first live broadcast in front of a live audience. The event focused on the mystifying rise in child suicides and featured author and renowned speaker Andrew Solomon, Ph.D. The podcast is hosted by Cook Children's senior vice president and chief communication, inclusion, diversity and equity officer, and Cook Children's medical director of psychiatry outpatient services and partial hospitalization program. From January through July 2023, 405 patients ages 8 and older who came to Cook Children's ED for medical conditions were positive for being at risk for suicide, and 19 were suicidal at the time. That's when Team HOPE enters the picture. Team HOPE is led by an ED nurse and chaplain, and includes patient care technicians, paramedics, nurses, security officers, chaplains and child life specialists specially trained to identify and communicate with children struggling with mental health. Oftentimes, Team HOPE's intervention leads to life-saving mental health care and resource connections for children and their families. New and Improved After years in the making, Cook Children's Medical Center opened the Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health in October 2023. The Justin Institute brings together Cook Children's Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center, Cook Children's Division of Behavioral Health and the Child Study Center under one collaborative roof to provide easily accessible, well-coordinated and comprehensive care for children with disorders affecting the nervous system. The Justin Institute is located in the Dodson Specialty Clinics building, which reopened in 2023 after undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion. In addition to the Justin Institute, the expansion made way for the opening of the Panda Cares Center of Hope Sibling Support Center where siblings of medically complex patients can play, create and connect with other children while their brother or sister attends their specialty appointments. The Panda Cares Center of Hope Sibling Support Center at Cook Children's is made possible through the support of Panda Cares, the philanthropic arm of the Asian dining concept Panda Express, and its partnership with Children's Miracle Network (CMN), of which Cook Children's is a member. Cook Children's neuroscience division is making a name for itself in the world of medical research, too. In 2023, the Neuroscience Research Center, led by Christos Papadelis, Ph.D., made medical news with not one, but two, papers published in the esteemed neurology journal Brain. Through research conducted by Dr. Papadelis and his team, the papers shed new light on the pathophysiological mechanism of the generation and propagation of epilepsy activity in the context of this disorder as a network disease. A new Command Center opened at Cook Children's - Fort Worth in 2023 serves as a safety hub to monitor and respond to emergencies. The new space provides a centralized location for leaders across Cook Children's Health Care System to coordinate their response to an emergency, such as a natural disaster that affects campus operations or an event that brings a flood of patients to the Emergency Department. It is equipped with technology that allows teams to gather and share information quickly. Exceeding Expectations Cook Children's Medical Center continually pursues quality, safety and communication. For FY23, eligible employees were awarded a Care Share bonus for reaching the lihood to recommend" patient experience goal of 86%. Each year brings a new batch of awards and recognitions for the hospital, its services and its providers. In 2023, U.S. News and World Report ranked six Cook Children's specialties among the top 50 in the nation. They include Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery, Pediatric Diabetes and Endocrinology, Pediatric Orthopedics, Pediatric Pulmonology and Lung Surgery, Pediatric Cardiology and Heart Surgery and Pediatric Cancer.