A surgeon with a mission
Dr. Leach retired from the Air Force last September. He served 23 years as an OB/GYN, with a specialty in urogynecology. His extended family is pictured above, left to right: Niles, Matthew, Allan, Weeada, Vanessa, and Shaele. Joseph is in the front.
There is a new doctor in town. Dr. Allan Leach, urogynecologist at AdventHealth Castle Rock, moved to Castle Valley with his family last August.
His story begins in Kentucky where he was born and raised. Allan attended the University of Kentucky for undergrad and then medical school where he was recruited by and joined the Air Force. He said he never thought about being in the military, but it was a natural fit. Allan stayed in active duty as a doctor for 23 years before retiring in September 2023.
Dr. Allan Leach is a urogynecologist at AdventHealth Castle Rock. He specializes in surgical and non-surgical procedures to fix incontinence, overactive bladder, and pelvic organ prolapse.
The trajectory of his medical path became clear in 1995, before medical school, on a mission trip to Uganda when he assisted with a birth.
“It is burned in my memory,” said Allan. “The delivery was in the morning and that same evening I saw the mother, in a field with the child strapped to her back, with an ax chopping wood.”
Allan did his first OB/GYN residency in San Antonio at Wilford Hall Medical Center and then was stationed at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska.
“I loved Alaska,” added Allan. “It was an amazing place, and I loved the military folks I was taking care of.” He realized then that he wanted to stay in the military.
“They do their jobs without thinking twice,” Allan said about the service men and women he saw as patients. “I did not want to stop taking care of them.”
In Alaska, Allan met his wife, Weeada, a labor and delivery nurse in the Air Force. She grew up in Colorado Springs, so getting back to Colorado someday was her mission after they both retired from the military.
The couple welcomed their first child, Matthew, in Fairbanks who currently attends Valor Christian High School. The Leach family was then sent to Italy where Vanessa was born. She attends Rocky Heights Middle School. The third, Joseph, was born in Florida, and he attends American Academy. Allan has two adult children, Niles and Shaele, from a former marriage. Weeada is currently a women’s health nurse practitioner, also at AdventHealth.
Along the way, Allan became interested in the subspecialty of OB/GYN, urogynecology, and he did his fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Urogynecologists are surgeons who fix incontinence, overactive bladder, and pelvic organ prolapse. He added that 50% of women in the U.S. will have one of these conditions to some degree and only 20% will choose to have surgery, sometimes because of the stigma.
“There are a lot of non-surgical options, too,” said Allan. “It is a growing specialty because these issues are super common but it’s hard for some to talk about, even with a doctor.” Even his children are a little embarrassed.
“My kids do not want to tell anyone what I do,” laughed Allan. “It is pretty funny.”
Allan hopes to eventually take his skills to underserved communities where there are many complications from pregnancies.
“AdventHealth supports mission-type work, so I am hoping to have opportunities to help women overseas,” added Allan.
An avid hiker and fisherman, Allan likes anything on the water and loves the mountains. He concluded that he is looking forward to exploring all of what Colorado has to offer.
By Hollen Wheeler; photos courtesy of Allan Leach
