Cook Children's Elevates Eight Key Leaders to Drive Strategic Growth and Pediatric Excellence

Chief Medical Officer, President and Senior Vice President Among Promoted Roles

, /PRNewswire/ -- Cook Children's Health Care System is pleased to announce the promotion of eight exceptional leaders. These individuals have demonstrated a deep commitment to the health and well-being of children and have made significant contributions to Cook Children's, one of the largest freestanding pediatric health care systems in the U.S.

Jonathan Nedrelow, M.D., FAAP, has been promoted to Chief Medical Officer and will lead the system's clinical operations and strategy. While caring for our tiniest and sickest patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) since 2004, Dr. Nedrelow helped foster a culture of safety within the department, using cutting-edge research to guide protocols and care. Dr. Nedrelow will serve as a vital liaison between the health system's administration and its self-governed medical staff at Cook Children's two hospital campuses in Fort Worth and Prosper. His primary responsibility will be to support and guide these teams in delivering high-quality and reliable medical care to every child served by Cook Children's. Dr. Nedrelow previously served as senior vice president and associate chief medical officer. Read a full press release about his promotion here.

Kevin Greene has been promoted to President of Cook Children's Medical Center - Prosper. Since joining Cook Children's in 2019, Kevin has overseen significant growth at the Prosper campus, expanding critical services and earning widespread recognition for excellent care. Under his leadership, the facility has been named the Best Hospital and Best Emergency Department by Living Magazine. Greene is currently focused on adding critical clinical programs to the Prosper campus such as Trauma and a NICU, further enhancing the level of care available to families in the region.

Spencer Seals has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Construction and Real Estate. Having led the development and recent roll-out of Cook Children's 10-year Facilities Master Plan, Spencer has been instrumental in positioning Cook Children's to care for the children and families living in the fast-growing region now and into the future.

Additionally, the following individuals have also been promoted to Vice President positions:

Tara Allen, MBA, FACMPE, promoted to Vice President, Primary and Specialty Services. Allen joined Cook Children's in 2020 as assistant vice president of Primary and Specialty Services. Since then, she has helped Cook Children's grow its provider network of more than 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers.

Teresa Baker, FACHE, promoted to Vice President, Primary and Specialty Services, Administration. Baker, who joined Cook Children's in 2020, led the successful opening of the Prosper Specialty Medical Office Building, which quickly grew from just a few specialists to more than 20 physicians and 10 advanced practice providers comprising 13 specialties.

Sheralyn Hartline, DNP, RN, CNEP, RNC-NIC, promoted to Vice President, Nursing and Patient Care at Cook Children's Medical Center – Prosper. Hartline began her Cook Children's career in 2001 as a nurse, eventually serving as director of Cook Children's NICU. She has been pivotal in establishing Cook Children's Medical Center – Prosper where she most recently served as assistant vice president for Nursing and Patient Care.

Merridth Simpson, SHRM-CP, CDP, RACR, promoted to Vice President, Human Resources and Occupational Health. Since joining Cook Children's in 2023, Simpson has led Cook Children's adoption of a new HR solutions and data management system, as well as a new approach to performance management that highlights high-performance.

Laura Van Hoosier, MS, APR, Fellow PRSA, promoted to Vice President, Public Relations and Corporate Communications. Since joining Cook Children's in 2019, Van Hoosier successfully navigated communications efforts throughout the COVID-19 crisis, launched several new initiatives aimed at addressing the youth mental health crisis and led the rollout of an internal newsroom to communicate with employees.

Photos available for download in Dropbox.

Media Contact Information
Cook Children's PR Team can be reached at [email protected] or 682-774-2810

About Cook Children's
Cook Children's is more than a health care system: we strive to be an extension of your family, growing with your child from their first steps to adulthood. By collaborating to deliver on our Promise—to improve the well-being of every child in our care and our communities, we connect the dots for our patients. Between primary and specialty. Between home and medical home. Between short-term care and long-term health.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, we're 10,000+ dedicated team members strong, passionately caring for over 2 million patient encounters each year. Our integrated, not-for-profit organization spans two medical centers (including our state-of-the-art location in Prosper), two surgery centers, a physician network, home health services and a health plan. It also includes Child Study Center at Cook Children's, Cook Children's Health Services Inc., and Cook Children's Health Foundation. In 2024, Forbes named Cook Children's the top health care employer in the U.S., and third on the list of 'America's Best Large Employers.'

And our impact extends beyond the borders of Texas. We proudly treat children from virtually every state in the nation and 32 countries. 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—with an extra dose of magical wonder.

Discover more at cookchildrens.org.

SOURCE Cook Children's Health Care System