Family physician Salvador Sandoval, M.D., MPH, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Frederick K.M. Plessner Memorial Award by the California Medical Association (CMA). The award is given each year to a California physician who demonstrates exemplary practice and ethics as a rural county practitioner.
Dr. Sandoval has provided medical care in Merced and nearby rural communities in California’s Central Valley for more than four decades. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and has focused his career on serving underserved populations.
His commitment to rural health began early, shaped by working alongside farm workers during his youth. “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 worked at a migrant clinic in Yuba City over several summers. These experiences led him to conduct research on cardiovascular disease risk factors among male farmworkers and compare HIV risk factors between migrant and settled farmworkers.
Throughout his career, Dr. Sandoval has advocated for vulnerable groups including migrants, farmworkers, those exposed to pesticides, individuals at risk of opioid overdose, and unhoused populations. He played a key role in efforts to protect agricultural workers from pesticide exposure and contributed to opioid overdose prevention programs in an area significantly affected by the crisis.
He also served as Medical Director for a local respite clinic supporting patients experiencing homelessness after hospital discharge. To reach residents with limited access to care, he operated Golden Valley’s Medical Outreach Mobile (MOM) services, making house calls to isolated patients. In 1992, Merced Family Health Centers recognized him as “Employee of the Year” for his voluntary service and outreach work with migrants and unhoused patients.
Dr. Sandoval was Merced County Public Health Officer during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he provided science-based guidance using tools such as wastewater surveillance to anticipate infection surges. “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.”
Although semi-retired, Dr. Sandoval continues mentoring future physicians through the Family Medicine Residency Program in Merced. He emphasizes social justice principles along with compassion and ethical standards relevant to rural medicine.
“Dr. Sandoval’s legacy is etched into the very fabric of rural health care in the Central Valley,” said Kristynn Sullivan, Director of Merced County Department of Public Health. “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.
