MIDDLEBURG – A local health administrator seeks to boost local health outcomes and education based on personal experience and a drive to improve the community.

St. Vincent Ascension Clay Vice President of Nursing Sadie Durham likened her job to a chief nursing officer.

Durham pushes for positive health outcomes in the community. She emphasizes families making the right nutritional decisions, advocates for regular exercise for children and shares mental health and insurance resources.

She reminded residents of several of those messages she addressed Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony in Green Cove Springs in January.

“It’s about education on different health topics, just anything to just help bring awareness to the specific community,” Durham said. “It’s a lot of connecting with the community.”

Durham said she was initially interested in law in high school and spent the first half of college on that subject. When she went home for the summer, her mother was providing care for a family member with stomach cancer. They had been estranged for about 30 years.

“I spent that whole summer helping her take care of him. It really struck a chord with me,” Durham said. “It felt like something I was called to do.”

Durham has been in the health field for 15 years, with the last nine in leadership.

Straight from orientation, she said St. Vincent’s values overlapped with hers.

“That really connected and resonated at a level that is hard to explain,” she said.

Durham recalled the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought unprecedented hazards for doctors, nurses and patients. She said health professionals across the country were traversing uncharted territory.

“It’s a pandemic and none of us have seen something of that nature,” Durham said. “It was new. It was different and was difficult to plan for.”

Ascension St. Vincent’s Clay County Administrator Kevin Rinks said Durham was passionate, driven and excelled in her role.

“Sadie is the kind of big-hearted, patient-centered leader that anyone would want leading a nursing operations team for the care of their loved ones or themselves,” Rinks said.

“She embodies the spirit of mission-centered healthcare and strives for excellence each and every day.”

It’s difficult for Durham to pin down what an average day looks like for her.

“It’s a lot of making rounds, connecting with patients,” Durham said. “We’re talking to patients and getting a feel for their experiences. We’re asking how we can make it better.”

Her job can involve overseeing prepping surgical and emergency equipment, fostering nursing education and development, or general administrative work. It’s not sitting in an office all day, she said. However, officials have to keep challenging themselves, she said.

“Healthcare always has room for improvement, for promoting the idea of wellness and continuing to work on community wellness,” she said.