01/16/2026
Childhood should be magical, not painful, which is why Cook Children’s Medical Center makes easing pediatric pain a priority.
In November, Cook Children’s was named a ChildKind certified hospital for its commitment to helping children manage the pain associated with chronic conditions and medical care. It is one of only two hospitals in Texas, and the only one in North and West Texas, to achieve the certification.
ChildKind is a global non-profit that champions and fosters pediatric pain care within health care institutions. In addition to certifying institutions using the highest standards and best practices to prevent and treat children’s pain, ChildKind also helps health care organizations evaluate and benchmark their pain care practices, serves as a resource library for expanding their clinicians’ knowledge of pain management, and promotes collaboration among clinicians through ongoing education forums.
Receiving ChildKind certification is a highly prestigious recognition that places Cook Children’s among a select group of hospitals worldwide, according to Artee Gandhi, M.D., Cook Children’s medical director of Pain Management and endowed chair for the Center for Pain Management and Integrative Health.
“Earning this status signals that the hospital is a global leader in pediatric pain prevention, assessment, and treatment, aligning with international pain and quality of care initiatives,” Dr. Gandhi said. “Certification affirms Cook Children's commitment—from executive leadership to bedside staff—to prioritize children’s comfort and make pain prevention and relief a core institutional value, not an optional add on. It demonstrates that the hospital has embedded developmentally appropriate, evidence based pain practices, ongoing staff education, and continuous quality improvement processes, reassuring families, accrediting bodies, and partners that pediatric pain care meets the highest international evidence-based standards."
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Childhood should be magical, not painful, which is why Cook Children’s Medical Center makes easing pediatric pain a priority. In November, Cook Children’s was named a ChildKind certified hospital for its commitment to helping children manage the pain associated with chronic conditions and medic...
