Thursday’s announcement that Mental Health Board Executive Director Sandy Lewis will resign sent a jolt through the mental health service industry, particularly combined with the news that two other longtime top employees also are retiring.

Lewis said there’s nothing to read into the timing of the departures. She was given an opportunity as an assistant professor of psychiatry and director of a mental health center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. The other employees have approached retirement age.

We wish all three success in their retirement and future endeavors, and thank them for their service in such an important field for McHenry County residents. While it isn’t the fault of these individuals, the vital duty of ensuring that mental health services are accessible and available has never been easy, and it’s steadily getting more difficult.