someone else that allows us to be filled with gratitude,” Judy Leach said.

She thought of this when the Adventist Health administration asked if she would take over leadership of a hospital nestled near towering redwoods and the Pacific Ocean in rural northern California. It was a position she never imagined holding.

Leach had most recently been working as a communications executive for the healthcare company’s 23 hospitals and more than 250 clinics. She began her new role as president in May 2020. It encompasses serving as vice president of Adventist Health’s Well-Being Division, which includes Blue Zone projects, for the three hospitals in Mendocino County — hers, Adventist Health Howard Memorial and Adventist Health Ukiah Valley.

“What moves me forward is the belief that no matter what lies ahead of me, God is already there,” Leach said. “No matter what lies ahead, in the celebrations and the joys of life … and the times filled with anxiety we have to believe God is already there and figures out a pathway for us that we never would have even thought of.”

It causes her to take the values of Adventist Health more seriously — to “be love, be a force for good, be a mission owner, be welcoming, be curious and be brilliant. 

She strives to lean “into our values and never being silent about the hard stuff. … It’s being brave in being a force for good. … And for me, it’s taking action that improves the health and well-being of those around me." 

As a widow, she found she had the ability to connect with people on a different level. She could talk to patients and empathize with the challenges they faced. It also gave her new perspective as a leader.

“Not all storms come to disrupt our lives, some come to clear our paths,” she says.

— Michele Joseph, managing editor, Adventist Women Leaders newsletter