History

Though medicine has seen many changes since the medical center was founded, Adventist Health Castle has never lost sight of the human side of healthcare. Today, our commitment to providing innovative healthcare is still coupled with concern for each patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Since Adventist Health Castle first opened its doors in 1963, the medical center’s primary mission has been to meet the needs of the community. Windward O‘ahu residents welcomed their new medical center with sighs of relief. Finally, care was available close to home.

Expanding services to meet community needs

For years, Windward O‘ahu residents had contended with part-time ambulance service and unpredictable trips over the old Pali Road. In an emergency — when immediate medical care was critical — residents prayed that rockslides and sudden downpours wouldn’t slow their journey.

A small community group, long aware of these problems, launched a campaign in 1953 to establish a medical center in Windward O‘ahu. The late Robert Chung, MD, and Carolyn Rankin were the medical center’s major proponents. Numerous fundraisers built financial and community support for the project.

The campaign continued to gain momentum. A series of articles in The Honolulu Advertiser documented the seven-year struggle for a Windward O‘ahu medical center. Castle Ranch donated 10 acres of land as a site for the facility. The Seventh-day Adventist Church offered $600,000 toward construction, and $170,000 was raised through community contributions.

Fighting for funding

Though the Governor’s Hospital Advisory Council and the 30th Territorial Legislature backed the project, the state board of health refused to designate Windward O‘ahu as a separate medical center zone. As a result, federal funds for construction were stalled.

Not long after, two separate incidents further emphasized the need for a community medical center. Five men were injured when a roof collapsed at the nearly completed Cornet Store in Kailua. The next month, a 2-year-old Kailua girl choked to death on a pill. Doctors in Honolulu felt her life might have been saved if a medical center operating room had been close to home.

The following month, the state board of health approved the proposed medical center, and federal funds were made available.

The $2 million facility opened January 16, 1963, a little more than a year after ground was broken. Castle Memorial Hospital, named after Harold K.L. Castle who donated the land, opened with 72 beds and 14 bassinets. In 1983, the hospital changed its name to Castle Medical Center to reflect its growth into outpatient services and programs.

Adventist Health Castle today

Adventist Health Castle is now a 160-bed facility with more than 1,000 employees. On the medical staff are more than 300 physicians in a wide range of specialties and subspecialties. In the 12 months ending December 2021, Adventist Health Castle recorded 6,350 hospital admissions, delivered 941 babies, and received 61,093 outpatient visits. Our emergency room skillfully cared for 28,628 visits and 57,975 patients visited our various primary care and specialty care clinics. Adventist Health Castle as the largest provider of emergency medical services on Windward O‘ahu.

Our nonprofit institution serves all of O‘ahu and is the primary healthcare facility for Windward O‘ahu. The medical center is owned and operated by Adventist Health, a Seventh-day Adventist healthcare system.

Healthcare and wellness have been a focus of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from its very founding in the 1800s. PBS television stations nationwide aired a documentary in 2010, titled “The Adventists,” that examines this subject. Please click here to read more about the documentary.

Departments and services

Adventist Health Castle is a full-service medical center offering a wide range of inpatient, outpatient and home-based services. See the medical services section of this website for descriptions of our many healthcare services.

Many of our most successful programs are focused on preventative medicine and the promotion of healthy life habits. Adventist Health Castle’s Wellness and Lifestyle Medicine Center, our Rehabilitation Services in Kailua and Kaneohe, the employee wellness program and our vegetarian cafeteria, The Bistro, all support this mission.

In addition, Adventist Health Castle offers a team approach to weight loss surgery with the Hawaii Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. In this center's programs, patients work closely not only with a surgeon but with an entire team of dedicated weight-loss professionals.

A recent major physical project completed at Adventist Health Castle has been the total renovation of our Birth Center, now the Vera Zilber Birth Center. More than 1,100 babies a year are now delivered at our medical center. Thanks to a generous gift from the Joseph and Vera Zilber Foundation, birthing families now have a beautiful facility where they receive the personalized care and comfort they deserve when a new family member is arriving.