Karen Geney to Retire after 25 Years of Dedicated Service
When a dedicated employee has been with an organization for 25 years, it is always difficult to say goodbye, especially when they are an extraordinary professional who has served with both incredible compassion and devotion. Therefore, it is with both joy and heavy heart that we announce the retirement of Karen Geney, Hemophilia of Georgia’s Chief Operating Officer on June 30, 2022. As a dedicated member of the Management Team, Karen’s expertise, leadership, institutional knowledge, and commitment to HoG and the bleeding disorder community are tremendous and will be greatly missed.
Hemophilia of Georgia is grateful for Karen’s many years of behind the scenes work and dedicated service, during which she has led the organization in the areas of regulatory compliance and human resources. “When you break this down, Karen has been key in ensuring HoG uses best practices to meet regulatory criteria and that it has the right people to do the right job. She is organized, supportive, kind, loyal, and always willing to mentor, advise, and step up to help address challenging issues. As the compliance officer, some affectionately refer to her as the ‘Sherriff’ or the ‘Mayor,’ because she has always helped us with keeping in compliance with URAC and ACHC accreditation requirements,” stated Leigh Carpenter, VP of Pharmacy Operations. She continued, “Personally speaking, her kindness and sense of humor have always added joy to the workplace. I will miss her very much.”
Karen is also known to be collaborative, open to change, and has been instrumental in helping to establish company culture, since she began working at Hemophilia of Georgia in 1990. Interestingly, Karen started her career at HoG as a social worker and then moved to Washington DC. She moved back to the Atlanta area, returned to HoG, and served in several vital roles along the way, including VP of Human Resources, after working to become a certified Human Resources professional (SPHR, SHRM-SCP). She even had a brief stint as interim CEO in 2018 as the nation-wide search for the current CEO, Edith Rosato, began when the former CEO, Maria Manahan, announced she was accepting a new position.
As her institutional and regulatory knowledge grew over the years, her nickname became “One Call,” as in “one call that’s all.” If you called to ask her a question, she probably had an answer, or knew who did. As a result, Karen has been an invaluable asset and a critical part of helping Hemophilia of Georgia achieve its goals of becoming an internationally recognized and premier provider of comprehensive care, through its many exceptional programs and services.
Perhaps one of her most significant achievements in the Human Resources area was in 2006 when she received the Achievement in Corporate Excellence Award by the Atlanta chapter of WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network). She was recognized for her ground-breaking work to streamline the paid leave process and convert several categories into a unified PTO system that was much easier to manage…and very importantly, no employee lost any accrued time off in the process!
Some affectionately remember Karen as the “Watermelon lady” because for many years, when she helped supervise one of the bus routes for Camp Wannaklot (a week-long residential summer camp for children and teens who have hemophilia or other inherited bleeding disorders), she would make it a point to pick up watermelons and bring a trunk load back to share with the office staff.
Karen reflects fondly over her time at Hemophilia of Georgia. "I have been very fortunate to work with amazing people and doing what I enjoy at a place where I felt valued and appreciated. It has truly been a tremendous experience. Perhaps one of my greatest joys, is seeing the improvements in treatments and access to comprehensive care over the years for the people our organization serves, those with inherited bleeding disorders. They are our focus and inspiration every day to do what we do."
On behalf of the Hemophilia of Georgia family and the greater bleeding disorder community, please join us in congratulating Karen and wishing her the very best of luck in her retirement! We look forward to honoring Karen at our Evening of Celebration & Gratitude on March 25, 2022 at the Lowe’s Hotel in Atlanta.