Karen Freeman Named President-Elect of Women in Healthcare

Karen Freeman, AIA, ACHA, NCIDQ, has been named president-elect of Women in Healthcare, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the professional development of women in the healthcare industry. She will assume responsibilities for the role in 2023-24.

Freeman, who leads the healthcare practice in HOK’s Atlanta, Georgia studio, has more than 25 years of experience leading project teams designing and delivering healthcare facilities.

She is a founding member of the WIH Georgia Chapter and current president of the chapter. During her tenure, Freeman and the WIH Georgia board of directors were recognized as the organization’s Chapter of the Year at WIH’s annual LeadHERship Summit.

A frequent speaker and author on healthcare facility design trends, she holds a Six Sigma Lean Black Belt in Healthcare and is one of fewer than 450 board-certified healthcare architects in the U.S. per the American College of Healthcare Architects. She has delivered more than 4 million square feet of healthcare space in her career.

Freeman is a committed mentor, helping develop and inspire young students, emerging talent and women in the field. Beyond involvement in HOK’s internal mentoring program, she can be found mentoring students studying healthcare design at Florida State University’s Department of Interior Architecture and Design, participating in jury panels at the University of Central Florida’s School of Visual Arts and Design and serving as a thesis advisor and guest critic at Georgia State University’s Earnest G. Welch School of Art & Design.

Her passion for creating environments that elevate the dignity and build health service capacity extends into her volunteer work globally. In 2018, Freeman was part of a Habitat for Humanity team that traveled to Malawi to construct four houses in a village outside of Lilongwe, at the base of Ngala Mountain.