Sarah Oachs

Associate Principal

Health Management Associates

St. Paul, MN

[javascript protected email address]

A collaborative health and human services professional, Sarah Oachs has vast experience in organizational leadership and assessments, operations management, and process and systems integration, improvement, and strategic management.

She joins HMA after serving with Olmsted County, MN for more than a decade in increasingly senior roles. Most recently, she was the division administrator overseeing the Division of Health, Housing and Human Services (HHH) where she led departments, established budgets, directed community services, and provided consultation to executives and other departments to ensure cohesive program integration and operations.

With a significant ability to navigate complex stakeholder dynamics, overcome cultural resistance to change, and deliver results aligned with strategic and organizational goals, Sarah served HHH in a number of other roles including administrative director, evaluation and analysis manager, continuous improvement facilitator and quality improvement specialist. She is skilled at policy interpretation and implementation and creating solutions and operational supports across sectors that seek to address social determinants of health and serve vulnerable populations. She has used the Baldrige Performance Excellence framework and Lean Six Sigma certification throughout her career to help organizations achieve these changes.

Sarah is a seasoned social worker and has also provided intake, adoption, licensing and care management services in child protective services, family services and public and private social service organizations. She continues to serve children and families through volunteer community board positions.

She earned a Master of Arts in health and human services administration from St. Mary’s University in Rochester, MN, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.