Mason Health is a bustling rural hospital district with services ranging from Primary Care and Eye Care to diagnostic imaging. Mason Health has also recently expanded specialty services such as Cardiology, Women’s Health and Pediatrics. Every patient who walks through Mason Health’s doors is valued. doors. Through a slate of facility updates and expansion projects, Mason Health continues to lead the way in rural healthcare, ensuring access to local, quality care for current and future generations. Many of these are in line with Practice Greenhealth’s sustainability mission.
Mason Health Recognized for Healthcare Sustainability
For Mason Health, tending to the wellbeing of the community reaches beyond clinic doors and extends to environmental stewardship The Mason Health Green Team allows different departments of the hospital district to unite, advocate and implement sustainability measures. This includes representatives from Supply Chain, Facilities, Culinary & Nutrition, Environmental Services and Laboratory Services just to highlight a few of the teams included.
Through the hospital district’s continued sustainability efforts, Mason Health was presented the 2025 Greenhealth Emerald Award from Practice Greenhealth. The Practice Greenhealth Emerald Award criteria is comprehensive, from the reduction of medical waste, to phasing out the use of hazardous materials, and is presented to healthcare applicants that perform in the top 20%. As a rural hospital district, the Emerald Award is especially meaningful for Mason Health, as the hospital district is recognized alongside larger organizations like Harborview Medical Center – UW Medicine, Providence St. Peter Hospital, UC Davis Health, Mayo Clinic and Stanford Health Care.
Green strategies at Mason Health span medical and clerical operations, including a recycling program for toner cartridges, reducing the use of printer paper, and curtailing hazardous surgical smoke inside the operating room.
As Mason Health Culinary & Nutrition Services undergoes a remodel, Ashlee Johnson, Green Team member and manager of Culinary & Nutrition Services at Mason Health, has also developed a new hospital menu that highlights produce sourced from local farms and seasonal ingredients that are not only healthy and delicious, but more environmentally conscious.
Lindsay Roberts, Green Team member and director of Laboratory Services at Mason Health, has led the way in curtailing plastic waste during patient blood draws through the reduction of butterfly needles. Laboratory Services staff have learned new methods for drawing blood that allow them to limit the use of butterfly needles, while also providing improved patient care.
Mason Health Expands Services and Hires New Providers, Guided by Mason Health Campus Master Plan
Many of Mason Health’s current facility updates and expansion projects are guided by the Mason Health Campus Master Plan, which according to Jennifer Capps, chief development and communication officer for Mason Health, addresses immediate and anticipated demands across the hospital district and is approved by the District’s Board of Hospital Commissioners for the benefit of Mason Health’s patients and community.
The Board of Commissioners for Public Hospital District No. 1 is composed of elected officials who draw upon their backgrounds in community service, business and law enforcement when identifying the most pressing issues of the hospital district and when collaborating with Mason Health leadership. Mason Health’s three Board of Hospital Commissioners are President, Don Welander, Secretary Darrin Moody and Trustee, Lori Brady. Darrin Moody, secretary of the Board of Commissioners for Public Hospital District No. 1, describes the Mason Health Campus Master Plan as a living document that is consistently updated.
Inside the lower level of Mason Clinic, a new pod of primary care exam rooms are being constructed, which will increase capacity for primary care visits. Space for these additional exam rooms was initially incorporated into the construction of Mason Clinic, so that primary care facilities could grow over time, alongside the growth of the community’s need for increased access to services.
Mason Health has added a new pediatrician and new OB/GYN providers to the staff to meet increasing community demand. Some critical hospital features are also being updated, including the installation of a new elevator.
In August, Mason Health commemorated the expansion of Mason Clinic – Eye Care through a ribbon cutting ceremony. Mason Clinic – Eye Care features new exam room space and new ophthalmologist, Dr. Aditya Mehta, who brings expertise in retinal conditions, cataract surgery and oculoplastic surgery. Mason Health also plans to unveil a new diabetic retinopathy screening machine for use in Mason Clinic – Primary Care in late 2025.
According to Moody, adding an additional provider in ophthalmology at Mason Health means more patients can stay local for this specialty care.
Mason Health’s commitment to rural healthcare is longstanding and also extends to Hoodsport Primary Care, which serves community members in Hoodsport and more remote corners of Mason County.
“Mason Health has been serving this community since 1968,” says Capps. “We have a strong legacy of providing health care in rural areas and remote rural areas, and we feel it’s our responsibility to make sure that legacy continues.”
And as the current open MRI at Mason Health reaches end of life service, a new Oasis Velocity High Field Open MRI from Fujifilm is being installed. Mason Health is one of the only healthcare facilities in the region to have an open MRI, and the hospital district sees around 2,000 visits each year for use of the MRI. The open-concept design allows for a larger swath of the population to use the machine, and can be especially helpful for patients of different sizes, or those at risk of claustrophobia.
A ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the installation of the new open MRI is planned for the end of October, and after comprehensive staff training, the MRI is expected to be fully operational and ready for patient use in early 2026.
To learn more about current construction projects, or sustainability efforts at Mason Health, visit the Mason Health website.
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