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. Total revenue on that return was $511,199,607, up 13.1% from $451,884,730 for the fiscal year ending September 2024. Cook Children's Health Care System ranks 98th of 229 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; the system's largest single return is filed by Cook Children's Medical Center (EIN 75-2051646), with $2,268,395,631 in revenue 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 |
Also paid on the latest return: Joseph M Gallagher (SVP, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER), $1,192,717; Eric Hubli (SVP, SURGEON IN CHIEF), $1,174,845; Cory R Rhoades (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER), $1,133,592; Joann Sanders (CHIEF QUALITY OFFICER), $1,036,049; Theresa Z Meadows (SVP, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER), $1,014,004; Robert Feather (SVP PUBLIC POLICY AND HEALTH SERVICES), $982,603; Jonathan Nedrelow MD (EVP, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER), $861,579; Christian Pedigo (SVP, CHIEF STRATEGY, EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY HEALTH OFFICER), $824,231; William Stigall (CHIEF RESEARCH OFFICER), $766,915; Chandra Reynolds MD (TRUSTEE - END 5/31/25), $750,023; Anish Ray (MEDICAL DIRECTOR), $726,898; Winifred King (SVP, CHIEF COMM, EMPLOYEE CONNECTIONS OFFICER), $726,814; Karen Wardell (VP, CHIEF RISK OFFICER), $712,186; Anthony Anani MD (TRUSTEE), $706,541; Deborah Schutte MD (TRUSTEE - VICE CHAIRMAN), $699,406; and 25 more.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Belen M Garren (TRUSTEE - SECRETARY/TREASURER - END 5/31/25), Peter L Philpott (TRUSTEE - CHAIRMAN), William E Bailey (TRUSTEE - SECRETARY/TREASURER), Andrew P Lombardi (TRUSTEE), Brian C Crumley (TRUSTEE), Brian C Newby (TRUSTEE), Hadley Woerner (TRUSTEE), Jerry R Conatser (TRUSTEE), John P Boswell (TRUSTEE - END 5/31/25), Karl Biggs (TRUSTEE), Laura Bird (TRUSTEE - END 5/31/25), Michael R Dike (TRUSTEE), Peggy L Cassidy (TRUSTEE), R Russell Morton (TRUSTEE - END 5/31/25), Rachel R Werner (TRUSTEE), Richard W Dyess (TRUSTEE), Rick Sorenson (TRUSTEE - END 5/31/25), Robert Gillespie MD (TRUSTEE), Ryan B Dickerson (TRUSTEE).
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 98th of 229 hospital systems by CEO pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 97th, Parkview Health, $3,677,159
- Next in this ranking: 99th, Bronson Healthcare, $3,569,592
Closest in revenue among the hospital systems on this site:
Carilion Clinic$2,205,266 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
INTEGRIS Health$3,100,107 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Northern Light Health$1,659,381 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
ECU Health$2,152,599 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
Virtua Health$3,320,959 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
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).
The CEO, Rick W Merrill, was the highest-paid person on the latest return, at $3,598,135.
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.
Cook Children's Health Care System's return for the fiscal year ending September 2025 reports total expenses of $406,109,598 and total revenue of $511,199,607 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $105,090,009. Expenses were $385,781,639 for the fiscal year ending September 2024, so they rose 5.3%. The CEO's pay of $3,598,135 equals 0.89% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Cook Children's Health Care System filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on August 14, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending September 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.