Centennial Spotlight: Sarah Gomez Erlach
Sarah Gomez Erlach dedicated her life and career to caring for others and ensuring
migrant workers in California had access to quality health services.
The San Bernardino native graduated from San Bernardino Valley College in 1945 with a nursing degree and immediately joined the U.S. Army, serving as a career military nurse for 34 years in both the Army and U.S. Army Reserve, where she was promoted to the rank of colonel. She was the first Hispanic student to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Nursing, and after earning her bachelor's degree in 1949 worked for the Alameda County Health Department.
Gomez Erlach played a pivotal role in improving health care for migrant workers, writing the state of California's Rural Health legislation plan in the early 1970s. This became the Primary Health Care and Community Service Division, which set up 75 rural health clinics and continues to offer programs today.
When she retired in 1988, Gomez Erlach was serving as chief of the division. For her work, she received the University of California, San Francisco's prestigious UCSF Medal and the UCSF Alumni Board's Award for Excellence as a Pioneer in Primary Health Care for Underserved Groups. Gomez Erlach, who was inducted into the SBVC Alumni Hall of Fame in 1995, died in 2015.
The San Bernardino native graduated from San Bernardino Valley College in 1945 with a nursing degree and immediately joined the U.S. Army, serving as a career military nurse for 34 years in both the Army and U.S. Army Reserve, where she was promoted to the rank of colonel. She was the first Hispanic student to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Nursing, and after earning her bachelor's degree in 1949 worked for the Alameda County Health Department.
Gomez Erlach played a pivotal role in improving health care for migrant workers, writing the state of California's Rural Health legislation plan in the early 1970s. This became the Primary Health Care and Community Service Division, which set up 75 rural health clinics and continues to offer programs today.
When she retired in 1988, Gomez Erlach was serving as chief of the division. For her work, she received the University of California, San Francisco's prestigious UCSF Medal and the UCSF Alumni Board's Award for Excellence as a Pioneer in Primary Health Care for Underserved Groups. Gomez Erlach, who was inducted into the SBVC Alumni Hall of Fame in 1995, died in 2015.
