[1][2] The hospital is located in the suburb of Karen off of Nairobi-Langata road, approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi), southwest of the city's central business district.

[5] Karen Hospital was co-founded by a Kenyan medical couple one of whom is Dr. Betty Gikonyo, a pediatric cardiologist, who is one of the 13 female doctors (8 African and 5 Caucasians), to graduate with the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) from the Nairobi University School of Medicine in 1975.

[5] The other member of the couple is her husband, Dr. Daniel Gikonyo an adult cardiologist, whose practice is based at the hospital.

[6][7] For the first 14 years, Betty Gikonyo served as the hospital's chief executive officer (CEO).

In 2020 she transitioned to serving as the hospital's chairperson, making room for her daughter, Juliet Gikonyo Nyaga, a public health specialist, to assume the role of CEO.