Healthcare Hero Community Partner Spotlight: A conversation with Circe Sher

Circe Sher, co-founder of Piazza Hospitality and owner of Hotel Healdsburg, h2hotel, and Harmon Guest House, is a long-standing and passionate advocate for the health and well-being of her Healdsburg community. A dedicated supporter of the Healthcare Foundation, Circe’s deep commitment to equitable healthcare access was honored in 2019 with the Wetzel Award for Community Leadership. Her ongoing involvement includes serving as a Healthcare Hero Community Partner—one of the Foundation’s mission-aligned business sponsors whose sustained support is vital to eliminating health inequities across northern Sonoma County.

Circe has been part of the Sonoma County landscape since 2000, when she joined her parents in opening Hotel Healdsburg, and made it her permanent home in 2008. “It was the quintessential Northern California that I had missed: farmland, Redwoods, great food, and a charming small town,” she recalls. Today, she lives on a farm with her partner, chef Mateo Granados, their 13-year-old daughter Metti, and an assortment of animals. In addition to her professional endeavors, she is an active civic leader and board member of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce.

As a hotelier who understands the pressures faced by hospitality workers and other essential laborers, Circe has been a powerful champion for the Healthcare Foundation’s work to expand bilingual, bicultural mental health care—underscoring her deep and enduring commitment to the wellbeing of her neighbors.

“One need that inspires me to support the Healthcare Foundation is mental health services and increasing the number of providers, especially Spanish-speaking, in our area. After countless fires, Covid, immigration pressures and everyday life, I see so many people needing support.”

Circe Sher

How did you first become aware of the Healthcare Foundation and what inspires you to support its mission as a Healthcare Hero Community Partner?  

I first became aware of the Foundation through its early fundraising efforts supported by a big event — Wine, Women and Shoes — that raised money for the Foundation to direct to various healthcare-related needs in the region. I think the first project was establishing the Women’s Health Center, including a state-of-the-art digital mammogram machine, at Healdsburg Hospital — a big accomplishment! Since then, the organization has switched gears and is focusing on different goals to respond to the needs of our community. One need in particular that inspires me to support the Healthcare Foundation is mental health services and increasing the number of providers, especially Spanish-speaking, in our area. After countless fires, Covid, immigration pressures and everyday life, I see so many people needing support.

This month is Mental Health Awareness Month. How does mental health figure into your approach to the businesses you run?  

We offer mental health support to our employees through our healthcare plan. Our HR department shares suggestions and prompts toward self-care. We work to create an environment where employees feel secure and like family, as we are largely a family business. We have many employees who have been with us for 20-plus years, their kids work for us too, and we support our employees with special programs that make them feel cared for, such as scholarships and an employee emergency fund. 

Are there particular things you’ve learned that relate to supporting good mental health in your businesses or life more generally? 

Slowing down, breathing, and trying to practice empathy — meeting people where they are — in both our corporate culture and my personal life.

What is something about northern Sonoma County you derive hope from? 

Honestly, it’s always been the natural environment, and how nature and the seasons impact people who live here in a positive way. I think it’s healing and connects us all.