Sandra K. (Sam) Hedrick, RN, JD

Sam Hedrick has been an advocate for people since entering the field of human services forty years ago. She began as an RN at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. There, she worked in a post-operative unit with people with life-challenging diseases and traumas. Later, she completed her Juris Doctorate at North Carolina Central University, and afterwards, served as an Assistant Public Defender in Durham for six years. In this role, she worked with youth in juvenile detention; people involuntarily committed to psychiatric units; and many other North Carolinians charged with criminal offenses. She observed that many of these individuals had mental illness, intellectual disabilities and/ or substance use disorders. With an eye towards improving people’s quality of life, Sam next became President of RHA Howell, a not-for-profit providing mental health, developmental and intellectual disability, and substance use disorder services to children and adults in communities across North Carolina. Sam served in that role for fifteen years. While there, she received an award from the Triangle Business Journal, as “ Healthcare Hero for 2014.” She also received an award from Disability Rights North Carolina as the 2016 “Champion for Equality and Justice.”
Today, Sam serves as Senior Advisor for the ADA in the Office of the Secretary. She oversees the implementation of a lawsuit brought to NC by US DOJ along with the work that the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ is doing devoted to Olmstead planning.