Role model is a phrase we toss around quite frequently these days but Kathy Raethel truly considers herself a role model in her current position as president and CEO of Castle Medical Center.
"And so I hope for younger women today that I am a role model and that these positions whether it's a vice president or CEO of a company, that they are open to women from all walks of life,” she said.
We wanted to know what she believes makes Castle different.
"You know Castle is I believe the only faith-based hospital remaining on the island and for me that makes it very special,” she said. “We - our mission is to care for our community and to share God's love and we do that each and every day."
Castle has just signed a new agreement with HMSA and that took some courage on the medical center's part.
"In the past, we would negotiate a percentage increase if we were lucky. But we would negotiate an increase in reimbursement that we were provided for providing care. This time, we were able to negotiate the increase based on our achievement of quality outcomes,” she explains.
What that means, in essence, is that Castle has virtually guaranteed to the health care provider that the hospital will provide the best possible care available to the patient - 100 percent.
Still, the hospital relies on community support to sustain its services.
"In Hawaii, we're blessed with having many philanthropic organizations and Castle like other health care providers is very dependent on the generosity of our community and of our philanthropic organizations, so yes we do spend quite a bit of time who are able and willing to contribute to the work that we do,” she said.
And can she imagine herself doing anything else?
"No,” she said. “This is my calling."
