Medical Director Announcement
An important update as we head into the 2026 camping season! After decades of extraordinary service—as a member of the Board of Directors, Medical Advisory Team, and Camp Okizu’s Medical Director—Dr. Kent Jolly has retired from his roles at Okizu.
We are deeply grateful for Dr. Jolly’s unwavering commitment to the safety and quality of our programs. His leadership has been instrumental in guiding Okizu through pivotal moments, including the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of our facility to fire, and the search for and purchase of our new home in Valley Springs. His impact is woven into everything we do, and his legacy will continue to shape Okizu for many years to come. We wish him all the best in his retirement and hope to welcome him back to camp in Valley Springs soon.
As we honor this transition, we are focused on ensuring strong, thoughtful continuity in our medical program, in alignment with American Camping Association (ACA) and Children’s Oncology Camping Association (COCA) standards. We are thrilled to share that Dr. Karen Chao will be stepping into the role of Medical Director at Okizu. We are deeply grateful for her partnership and the experience she brings as we move into this next chapter together.
MEET DR. KAREN CHAO AKA DR. SHORT RIB
Karen Chao, MD, MS, attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati. She completed a Pediatrics residency and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Dr. Chao practices general pediatric hematology and oncology with a focus on general pediatric oncology. She has contributed to the impact of race and socioeconomic status on the outcomes of pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia receiving chimeric antigen receptor therapy. She is also interested in earlier detection of avascular necrosis, improved health literacy among patients and families, and improvement in survivorship and transitions of care.
Dr. Chao began her camp journey as a camp counselor named Short Rib at UCLA UniCamp, and has loved the creativity, songs, games, arts and crafts, and endless energy of camp ever since, but particularly fell in love with the idea that camp is a place where we can craft new identities, build new (and often lifelong) friendships, and show up as our authentic selves.
“As a pediatric oncologist and medical staff at Camp Okizu, I have seen firsthand the magic of camp in this patient population that I have dedicated my career to.” — Dr. Karen Chao