Stories

Community leader Regina Weatherspoon-Bell is making a local impact

On a Sunday evening, Apple Valley resident Regina Weatherspoon-Bell was getting ready for the upcoming work week when she noticed her arm growing numb. Within minutes, her speech was affected. As her husband Wilton called 911, Regina began to pray as she realized she was having a stroke.

Paramedics immediately transported her to the place she trusted most: Providence St. Mary Medical Center. As the only stroke receiving center in the High Desert with neurological specialists available 24 hours a day, Providence St. Mary was able to provide critical care to Regina — because every minute matters during a stroke.

“God was with me every step of the way,” she recalls. “He was with everybody who came in contact with me — from the neurologist to the person pushing my wheelchair.”

Care with compassion

While Regina was delighted with the lifesaving clinical expertise she received that evening, she remains especially grateful for how the hospital emphasized her humanity, especially at a time of great personal vulnerability.

“It’s way more than just the medical care,” she shares. “It has everything to do with feeling that when I enter the space, I will be treated with dignity and respect. I’m going to be treated and met with compassion.”
By nine o’clock the next morning, feeling had returned to Regina’s arm, and her speech was fully restored. She was released the following evening, less than 36 hours since her scare began.

For Regina, who works as executive director of a domestic violence shelter and leads the multicultural nonprofit Dreamers, Visionaries and Leaders, compassion has always been a critical part of her identity — especially when it comes to her interaction with the High Desert community.

“Local nonprofits have a special place in my heart because they are the ones on the front lines, filling the gaps and meeting the needs of some of our most vulnerable populations,” she explains.

That local impact inspired Regina’s ongoing involvement with Providence St. Mary Medical Center, including her membership on the hospital’s Board of Trustees and her past service as a Foundation board member.

“Part of my attraction to Providence St. Mary has been the outreach and how connected we are to the community,” explains Regina. “The hospital continues to care and show up for the High Desert, and that’s something I want to support.”