Raethel Vows To Build On Castle Hospital’s Quality Services

Castle Medical Center’s new president and CEO Kathy Raethel. Photo from the medical center.

After serving for 11 years as vice president of patient care services at Castle Medical Center, Kathryn Raethel was, to her surprise, appointed the hospital’s new president and chief executive officer.

The positions became available after former CEO Kevin Roberts took the same post at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in California.

Now, nearly three months into the position, Raethel is starting to adjust to her new roles and responsibilities.

“Of course the job is different, and it is always difficult to change roles in the same organization. I’ve had to learn how to let go of things that were near and dear to my heart, and know other people will be able to take care of them,” said Raethel, who was vice president of professional services and chief operating officer of Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, Calif., before coming to Castle.

She plans to focus on community and physician relations, and is determined to heighten the quality of the hospital.

“Part of my goal is to continue to help us reach quality in operations and performance. We also are looking to better align our physicians going forward.”

A native of Australia and a registered nurse, Raethel began her career at Sydney Adventist Hospital. She also is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and board certified as a nurse executive. Heading further into 2012, Raethel would like to see CMC become the hospital of choice for Windward residents.

“We want more residents using Castle. We also want to increase the acuity of our services to take us out of the community hospital realm to being able to handle some higher acuity status,” added Raethel, who credits all of the nurses, physicians and volunteers who work tirelessly to create the welcoming environment CMC offers each day.