Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn recently reflected on the 2025’s biggest accomplishments and looked ahead to 2026 and beyond.
Expanding care close to home
2025 was a milestone year for Jefferson Healthcare, one marked by expansion, innovation and a renewed commitment to keeping high-quality care close to home.
The opening of Jefferson Healthcare’s new Castle View hospital wing was the centerpiece of 2025. With it came new and expanded specialty services designed to reduce the need for patients to travel long distances to get the care they need.
“It means fewer trips to Silverdale and Seattle for residents to seek specialty healthcare,” Glenn said. “Our focus has been to understand what the healthcare needs of our community are – and then develop them in a high-quality, patient-safe way.”
This expansion wasn’t just about convenience. Glenn emphasized the importance of serving patients who can’t easily travel for care – patients whose needs are often overlooked.
“We were motivated to create access for patients that just could not go to Silverdale or Seattle, particularly repeatedly over the course of treatment,” he said.
A transformational step for cancer care
One of the most impactful additions in 2025 was radiation oncology, an essential component of cancer treatment that many local patients previously had to travel long distances to receive.
“With radiation therapy, that is often a three- or four-times-a-week regimen for several weeks,” Glenn explained. “Many patients were getting chemotherapy here and then traveling the next day for radiation. That’s a tremendous burden.”
The stakes are high. Glenn noted that combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy can improve five-year life expectancy by 20 to 30 percent for many patients.
“So, we are thrilled to introduce this service,” he said. “We could not be more pleased with how it’s being embraced and the patients we are taking care of.”
READ MORE: Jefferson Healthcare welcomes first patients to new radiation oncology clinic
New clinics mean more capacity
The new building also allowed Jefferson Healthcare to expand existing services and introduce new ones. Dermatology, OB/GYN and medical oncology all gained space, while new clinics were launched in neurology, pulmonology, ENT and podiatry, further strengthening access to specialty care close to home.
Awards, recognition and thanks
The year 2025 brought additional highlights.
In December, Jefferson Healthcare was recognized by the Women’s Choice Award for Best Hospitals for offering a safe, high-quality experience in both Obstetrics and Outpatient Experience.
This designation signifies that Jefferson Healthcare ranks in the top 9 percent of U.S. hospitals offering obstetric services and among the top-performing 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for delivering exceptional care in outpatient settings.
The end of the year also brought an opportunity to celebrate and thank longtime Hospital District Commissioner and Board President Jill Buhler Rienstra, who retired at the end of 2025.
With her retirement, Rienstra concluded more than three decades of extraordinary service to the community. To honor her legacy, Jefferson Healthcare will name a hospital courtyard in her honor and issue a formal board resolution recognizing her service.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond
As Jefferson Healthcare prepares its next strategic plan, Glenn outlined five guiding pillars: quality, people, service, growth and finance. Central to the plan is a simple but powerful goal: make healthcare work better.
“That’s our North Star,” Glenn said. “Make healthcare work better as defined by the people that use it.”
Listen to the full conversation
To hear more about Jefferson Healthcare’s accomplishments and vision for the future, listen to the full To Your Health podcast episode featuring CEO Mike Glenn. This episode and its transcript are available in English and Spanish.
You can listen to all of Jefferson Healthcare’s podcasts at jeffersonhealthcare.org/podcast or find videos of select podcasts on their YouTube channel.
