Cook Children's Health Care System CEO salary and executive pay
Cook Children's Health Care System paid its CEO, RICK W MERRILL, $3,598,135 for the fiscal year ending September 2025. That is up $292,618 (8.9%) from the fiscal year ending September 2024. Cook Children's Health Care System ranks 86th of 148 hospital systems on this site by CEO pay. $2,219,206 of RICK W MERRILL's pay came from related organizations (column E). Cook Children's Health Care System has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 75-2705881, Fort Worth, TX.
CEO, fiscal year ending September 2025
$3,598,135
- Revenue on this return
- $511,199,607
- This is the system's parent filer; most revenue is reported by Cook Children's Medical Center (EIN 75-2051646), $2,268,395,631 on its latest return.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending September 2025, IRS object ID 202632269349301528.View the filing
Revenue is Part I, line 12. Pay as a share of revenue and the peer comparison are not shown for a parent filer.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 30 people were paid more than $500,000, 10 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| RICK W MERRILL CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $3,598,135 |
| JAMES C CUNNINGHAM MDEVP, CMO - END 1/3/25 | $2,266,219 |
| B ANTHONY BAGWELLSVP, CIIO | $2,082,560 |
| STEPHEN W KIMMELEVP, SYSTEM FINANCE | $1,896,559 |
| KEITH HOLTZCHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER | $1,671,304 |
CEO pay by year
Each row is the CEO on that year's return.
| Fiscal year ending | Name and title | Total | Revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | RICK W MERRILL CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $3,598,135 | $511,199,607 | Filing |
| Sep 2024 | Rick W Merrill CEO President & CEO | $3,305,517 | $451,884,730 | Filing |
| Sep 2023 | Rick W Merrill CEO President & CEO | $3,686,493 | $355,870,053 | Filing |
| Sep 2022 | RICK W MERRILL CEO President & CEO | $2,663,388 | $321,528,471 | Filing |
How this pay was reported
The parts of each total, as reported on the return for the fiscal year ending September 2025.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending September 2025, IRS object ID 202632269349301528.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Related | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| RICK W MERRILL*PRESIDENT/CEO | $951,088 | $2,219,206 | $427,841 | $491,771 | $322,630 | $136,687 | $117,763 | $10,589 | $1,079,440 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $1,147,465 | $752,805 | $318,936 | $274,781 | $24,708 | $2,518,695 | |||
| JAMES C CUNNINGHAM MDEVP, CMO - END 1/3/25 | $1,353,775 | $0 | $912,444 | $780,476 | $385,606 | $187,693 | $873,037 | $39,407 | $2,266,219 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| B ANTHONY BAGWELL*SVP, CIIO | $0 | $1,839,937 | $242,623 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $704,394 | $988,479 | $147,064 | $207,157 | $35,466 | $2,082,560 | |||
| STEPHEN W KIMMEL*EVP, SYSTEM FINANCE | $344,735 | $1,034,205 | $517,619 | $198,034 | $97,987 | $48,714 | $121,237 | $8,168 | $474,140 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $594,103 | $293,960 | $146,142 | $363,710 | $24,504 | $1,422,419 | |||
| KEITH HOLTZCHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER | $1,111,291 | $0 | $560,013 | $637,539 | $314,357 | $159,395 | $522,794 | $37,219 | $1,671,304 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
These figures come from Cook Children's Health Care System's Form 990 returns, as the IRS publishes them. The methodology page explains how they're chosen. To report an error, email corrections@ceopaycheck.com.
How Cook Children's Health Care System compares
Ranked 86th of 148 hospital systems by CEO pay.
Closest in revenue among the hospital systems on this site:
Penn State Health$3,235,216 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
St. Luke's Health System (Idaho)$2,104,597 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
Beth Israel Lahey Health$4,734,371 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
WellSpan Health$3,176,598 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Dartmouth Health$2,525,898 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Common questions
RICK W MERRILL (PRESIDENT/CEO) was paid $3,598,135 for the fiscal year ending September 2025: $951,088 from Cook Children's Health Care System, $2,219,206 from related organizations and $427,841 in other compensation (Part VII columns D, E and F). Cook Children's Health Care System ranks 86th of 148 hospital systems on this site by CEO pay.
The CEO, RICK W MERRILL, was the highest-paid person on the latest return, at $3,598,135. Next was JAMES C CUNNINGHAM MD (EVP, CMO - END 1/3/25), at $2,266,219. On the latest return, 30 people were paid more than $500,000, 10 of them more than $1 million.
Cook Children's Health Care System paid its CEO, RICK W MERRILL, $3,598,135 for the fiscal year ending September 2025. That is up $292,618 (8.9%) from the fiscal year ending September 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending September 2022, when the CEO was RICK W MERRILL, paid $2,663,388. By fiscal year end: September 2022, $2,663,388 (RICK W MERRILL); September 2023, $3,686,493; September 2024, $3,305,517; September 2025, $3,598,135.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Cook Children's Health Care System filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending September 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above. The methodology page explains how they're chosen.