Harris named IHA SVP, general counsel

Karen Harris will join the Illinois Health and Hospital Association as its senior vice president and general counsel, effective March 1.

Harris, who will be based in IHA's Naperville office, will oversee and manage key legal issues for IHA related to policy, advocacy, business, governance, regulatory, and compliance matters.

Since 2013, Harris has been a partner in the Chicago office of Saul Ewing, Arnstein & Lehr, LLP, a national full-service law firm that serves clients throughout the U.S. and internationally. She previously worked at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and served as regional general counsel at Aetna U.S. Healthcare.

Harris is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Black Women Lawyers Association. She was named one of the "Most Influential Minority Lawyers in Chicago" in 2017 by Crain's Chicago Business Custom Media and one of Chicago Business Journal's "Women of Influence" in 2018.

Harris received her Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

IHA's current General Counsel, Mark Deaton, will remain with IHA as senior counsel during a transition period before retiring this summer.