About Dr. Craig Cook
Dr. Craig Cook is a transformative leader whose career spans healthcare and hospitality across the Middle East, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean, and the United States.
Formerly a professional opera singer and Disney entertainer, Craig transitioned into hospitality management before making a profound pivot into healthcare following his father's terminal cancer diagnosis.
Now serving as the CEO of the Brain and Performance Center in Dubai, Craig integrates high-touch hospitality principles into clinical care. He is also a devoted father to a nonverbal autistic son, an experience that fuels his mission to make healthcare more human, inclusive, and dignified.
About this Episode
In this deeply moving episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison speaks with Dr. Craig Cook about his extraordinary journey from hospitality to healthcare leadership—and the personal mission that drives it all. Craig shares how the passing of his father and raising a child with nonverbal autism became catalysts for creating a radically more compassionate and human-centered approach to medicine.
He offers a powerful behind-the-scenes look at how the Brain and Performance Center in Dubai blends clinical excellence with warmth, empathy, and dignity—turning cold, transactional healthcare experiences into deeply personal journeys. Craig discusses patient success stories, including his own son’s remarkable progress, and reveals how his team’s concierge-style care is reshaping the standard of neurological and cognitive treatment in the region.
This episode is a must-listen for healthcare professionals, caregivers, and anyone looking for inspiration on how personal experience can transform purpose into impact.
Quotes
1:13 – Healthcare wasn’t my first path—I started as an opera singer and Disney performer.
2:47 – My father’s passing led me to honor him by blending hospitality and healthcare.
3:31 – I wanted to rewrite the healthcare experience into something warm, personal, and dignified.
5:12 - My hospitality career was all about ensuring people had a good time.
5:50 – From valet to scent to music—every touchpoint should make patients feel welcome.
7:18 – We hire for talent, empathy, not just skill—that’s where true healing begins.
9:20 – At 104, he told me: “I don’t want to die, I just want my independence.”
11:04 – Despite access to the best therapies, it was our program that helped my son finally say, “Love you.”
12:01 – Hearing Zander speak brought me to a place I didn’t think was possible.
14:45 – Innovation matters, but never at the cost of human connection.
16:44 – I used to hire based on CVs—now I hire for heart and compassion.
19:10 – Okay is not enough. In healthcare, only excellence is acceptable.
20:37 – You are not alone. There’s a whole community that understands and supports you.
21:16 – We’re given two ears and one mouth for a reason—listen more, speak less.
22:44 - Know that there are people around that do care, that do understand, that do live this life
23:00 - Do focus on care and development of children with the autism spectrum disorder
24:12 – Inclusivity shouldn’t just be a slogan—it should be a lived value.
25:40 – My wife hiked to Everest Base Camp to raise awareness for autism.
27:30 – Joy can be found even in the hardest situations—my son taught me that.
28:09 – My Green Pill moment? Realizing that to care for others, I had to care for myself too.
28:51 – I went from good to g
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