Cook Children's Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

Inclusion, diversity and equity, three words often spoken as one, but what do they really mean? Inclusion refers to the behaviors and social norms that ensure people feel welcome. Diversity refers to the traits and characteristics that make people unique. Equity is the result of removing barriers to provide a fair and just environment for all.

At Cook Children's, inclusion, diversity and equity are more than mere words, they are the core of who we are. We celebrate qualities that make each person unique, and embrace all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identification, sexual orientation, disabilities, religious practices, or socioeconomic status. We are also working every day to ensure that we are creating equitable opportunities for our current and future staff members. As a pediatric health care system, we're committed to initiatives that strive for health equity for all children and their families. Improving the lives of every child through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury. Racism and prejudices of any kind are social determinants to health with impacts that can last throughout the person's lifetime and harms our community and the families we care for on a daily basis. We strongly encourage tolerance and understanding for all, and we understand the importance of moving forward in a spirit of love and community.

Health Equity

Every child deserves the best quality of life possible. We realize that there are many societal disparities that impact the physical and mental health of children. Cook Children's health equity intiatives are designed to reduce and eliminate as many health disparities as possible at the local, state and national level. Driven by our Promise, which is the guiding principle for Cook Children's, we have a responsibility to advocate for quality health care and healthy communities.

Center for Community Health

The Center for Community Health focuses on community health outreach and research programs designed to make our North Texas region one of the healthiest places to raise a child across all communities regardless of socioeconomic status.

Neighborhood Clinics

We believe that all children deserve access to the best pediatric health care possible. Our community-based neighborhood clinics are staffed by board-certified pediatricians and provide low-income families with well-child and sick visits, vaccines, behavioral health and supportive resources from birth through adolescence.

Affordable care

No child should have to go without quality health care. Cook Children's Health Plan provides low-cost or no-cost health insurance to more than 110,000 low-income families through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). We also help families find financial assistance, and resources to provide the support they need.

Advocacy

Children are a very big part of our world. But when it comes to their health, they have very small voices. For this reason, it's our responsibility to speak up for those who can't speak for themselves.

Adverse childhood experiences

Ensuring that families with adversity live in supportive communities and in the presence of nurturing, protective caregivers so children can build resilience and be protected from the negative impacts of adversity.

Mental health

Recognizing the need for mental health for children and teens, Cook Children's helped establish the Mental Health Connection (MHC) to find gaps in health services in our community and to help fill those gaps with better mental health services in for children in our communities.

Culture of Care

At Cook Children's we believe our staff should be reflective of our community. This expands our ability to serve our patients, families and communities. It also enriches our culture and expands our knowledge of the health issues children face and widens our ability to continually improve the care we deliver.

Commitment to hiring the very best talent in pediatric care
We're a proud partner of diversitynursing.com
Dedicated diversity and inclusion courses for staff for nearly two decades
Family Advisory Councils made up of Cook Children's staff and parents whose children are or have been patients and offer feedback and guidance so that we may continually improve the services and support families need.

Prejudice and racism can have long-term impacts on a child's mental and physical well-being. Finding the right words to say when talking to kids about these issues can sometimes feel overwhelming. To help, we've gathered some information to help families, and even communities, begin those conversations.

Talking about race

Meet Our Chief Diversity Officer

I believe stories have the power to create empathy and allow us to see others through a different lens than our own. I want the entire health care system to be thinking about how their actions, their work, and their speech impacts others negatively and positively.

Winifred King

Get to know Winifred King