Karen Willems, OT

Karen Willems is an occupational therapist at UW Health. She believes the best care comes from working with the patient and their family. Together, Karen helps people improve their ability to perform daily activities independently and with customized orthoses (external devices used to improve and restore function).

Karen works with patients who have neurological disorders or have suffered a trauma or burn injury. She also treats patients who have neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, ALS, muscular dystrophy, dementia, or have suffered a spinal cord injury or stroke and teens and adults with sensory processing disorder (SPD).

As a certified lymphedema therapist, Karen helps people manage swelling caused by lymphatic fluid buildup in the arms, legs or other parts of the body. This can be due to cancer and or other conditions, including lipedema (fatty tissue accumulation).

In her free time, Karen enjoys staying active, traveling, being outside and spending time with family and friends.

We work as a team. We problem-solve together to find creative ways to achieve their goals.