Family medicine physician Salvador Sandoval, M.D., MPH, has been named the 2025 recipient of the California Medical Association’s (CMA) Frederick K.M. Plessner Memorial Award. This award is given each year to a California physician who exemplifies the practice and ethics of a rural county practitioner.
Dr. Sandoval has provided care in Merced, California and nearby rural communities in the Central Valley for more than 45 years. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and has focused his career on serving underserved populations.
His commitment to rural health began with his early experiences working alongside farm workers and witnessing their living conditions. “I worked in farm labor in the summers between junior high and high school, and I was interested in health care because of what I saw: people that were hardworking and also didn’t have very many services,” Dr. Sandoval said.
During medical school, he spent summers working at a migrant clinic in Yuba City, which influenced his later research on cardiovascular disease risk factors among male farmworkers and HIV risk factors among migrant versus settled farmworkers.
Throughout his career, Dr. Sandoval has advocated for vulnerable groups by focusing on migrant and farmworker health, pesticide exposure prevention, opiate overdose prevention, and improving care for unhoused populations. He played a key role in advancing protections against pesticides for agricultural workers and contributed to overdose prevention efforts during the opioid crisis.
He also served as Medical Director for a local respite clinic that provides transitional care to patients experiencing homelessness. To increase access to care for hard-to-reach residents, he operated Golden Valley’s Medical Outreach Mobile services. In 1992, he was recognized as “Employee of the Year” by Merced Family Health Centers for voluntary service, outreach to migrants, and providing free care to unhoused patients.
Dr. Sandoval’s recent service includes acting as Merced County Public Health Officer during the COVID-19 pandemic where he used tools such as wastewater surveillance to predict surges and inform public health guidance. “Dr. Sandoval demonstrated calm, informed leadership during an extraordinarily challenging period,” said Yamilet Valladolid, Director of Government and Community at Golden Valley Health Centers. “His guidance and policies protected countless lives and reflected his lifelong commitment to health equity, public well-being, and science-based decision-making.”
Currently semi-retired, Dr. Sandoval continues mentoring future physicians as a preceptor in Merced’s Family Medicine Residency Program.
“Dr. Sandoval’s legacy is etched into the very fabric of rural health care in the Central Valley,” said Merced County Department of Public Health Director Kristynn Sullivan. “Titles or accolades do not define his career, but by the thousands of lives he has touched and the countless systems he has helped shape to be more equitable, compassionate, and effective. He has delivered care under bridges, on farms, in shelters, and clinics – always with humility, integrity, and a deep belief in human dignity.”
A video profile about Dr. Sandoval is available from CMA.
