Karen Cook, MPH

Karen Cook, MPH
Director, Healthy Families & Thriving Communities
Institute for H.O.P.E.™
The MetroHealth System

Karen Cook joined The MetroHealth System in 2014 and currently serves as Director, Healthy Families & Thriving Communities. She is a key staff person in MetroHealth’s Institute for H.O.P.E.™ (Health, Opportunity, Partnership, Empowerment), which leads the system’s approach to addressing social determinants of health. In her role Karen provides strategic oversight to a team responsible for a wide range of community health improvement programming, direct efforts to address the health-related social needs of patients, and the development of partnerships with community-based organizations. She also oversees the health system’s community health needs assessment process. Karen got her start in community health as a Peace Corps volunteer, working with the Moroccan Ministry of Health on efforts to reduce infant mortality. Prior to joining MetroHealth, she spent many years in the non-profit sector, serving as a Senior Program Officer with a family foundation where she directed community investments in the fields of Health and Social Services.  Karen holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the College of Wooster. She is also a Licensed Social Worker in the state of Ohio.  She lives in Lakewood, Ohio with her husband and son.