Representative Leslie Goldman came to Bellows Falls in 1982 as a newly graduated Family Nurse Practitioner with her husband, Dr. Matthew Peake, to start a primary care medical practice at the Rockingham Memorial Hospital. They went into private practice in 1986 and operated their small business until Rockingham Memorial Hospital closed in 1990. It was a difficult moment for the local area, but a creative community solution was found. Outpatient services remained in Bellows Falls with inpatient care going to Springfield Hospital. In 2008, Goldman completed a master’s of public health at the Dartmouth Medical School with a focus on systems thinking and quality improvement, and then went on to practice primary care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, where she gained an understanding of large, complex organizations. After 37 years in medicine, she retired in 2018. Goldman served on the Bellows Falls Union High School Board for 12 years and on the Rockingham Selectboard for three years, where she learned the skill of crafting a budget. She believes a budget is a statement of philosophy and limited funds requires choosing one program over another. Goldman served as a board member of Parks Place, a nonprofit organization supporting vulnerable and marginalized populations in Bellows Falls, was a founding member of The Compass School, a grade 7–12 independent school, and is currently on the board of The Nature Museum in Grafton. She feels renewed by singing with the Hallowell Hospice Choir and The River Singers. She and her husband have two grown sons, unfortunately living in California.