Cook Children's

What it reported doing in 2024

Supporting new discoveries cook children's is home to many of the best and brightest minds in pediatric health care. In addition to patient care, a number of our physicians conduct research that leads to new discoveries in medicine and advancements in patient care. The endowed chair program at cook children's recognizes the great work of our innovative physicians who are advancing pediatric care along with cook children's research. It allows physicians to develop programs, participate in clinical research, write for national publications, make presentations on a national level and further elevate the regional, national and global prominence of their work. More importantly, it connects cook children's patients with groundbreaking research, novel therapies and state-of-the-art technologies that could significantly impact their care and health outcomes. Supporting cook children's experience for decades cook children's has been at the forefront of providing holistic services to families such as case management, child life and pastoral care. Case management in particular, helps provide a family's basic needs. When a child has an unexpected medical emergency or is experiencing a prolonged illness or treatment it can disrupt the family's ability to meet their basic needs. Meals, housing, utility bills - those things essential in life can leave a family vulnerable when faced with unexpected medical bills or costly prescriptions. Coupled with the fact that being present with your sick child means being away from work for days, weeks, even months at a time affecting a family's income. This is where our donor-funded case management comes in by helping to provide for families' basic needs so they can focus on the healing of their child. The foundation continues to support these non-revenue generating areas through its efforts such as annual giving programs, third party events, children's miracle network hospitals, corporate, and mid-level giving. In fy25 alone, the health foundation raised over $2.5 million to help meet the needs of our patient families in these essential areas. It is these above-and-beyond-healthcare programs that make cook children's a magical and stellar institution treating the whole child, the whole family. Cook children's believes all children deserve access to health care, no matter their zip code. Nine community-based neighborhood health centers (nhc) give families a home for primary medical care close to where they live, work and attend school. The free-standing pediatric clinics are located in low income neighborhoods identified as having inadequate access to primary care for children. Roughly 91% of nhc patients are medicaid beneficiaries. Neighborhood health centers are staffed with doctors and other clinical support staff that provide at-risk children high-quality, comprehensive and culturally sensitive medical services from birth through their teen years, including well child exams, vaccines, sick visits, nutrition, counseling, speech language intake services, and behavioral health evaluations. If a child has a chronic illness, the nhc provides a medical home that will coordinate complex care among other cook children's providers. If not for the nhcs, many of these families would turn to the emergency department (ed) for primary care at a cost much higher than a typical clinic visit. Neighborhood health centers are helping kids all across cook children's service area lead healthier, more productive lives. Each year the clinics lose a combined $11.5 million due to the high number of medicaid beneficiaries. Philanthropic funds through the health foundation help fill these financial gaps so that cook children's can deliver on its promise to improve the well-being of every child regardless of their family's ability to pay. The generosity of health foundation donors helps sustain nhc services and gives all children the health care they deserve.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 67
• Fundraising efficiency: $2.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 64.3%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 81.32; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 11.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings