By Rachael DiCicco, Vitals contributor
Dedication. Compassion. Impact. Melba Green and Katrelia Robinson represent all three—bringing more than 95 years of combined service to Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland. As trusted healthcare professionals, they’ve not only witnessed the evolution of care—they’ve helped shape it. Their journeys reflect Sutter’s commitment to building a workplace where people can reach their full potential while changing and saving lives.
Melba Green and Katrelia Robinson have served a combined 95 years at Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland
Called to Care
Melba Green, a relief charge nurse in surgical intake, began her journey in 1972. Inspired by her mother, a nurse’s aide, and a new medical professions class at her high school. Green was drawn to caregiving from an early age. Starting out as a nurse’s aide herself, she seized opportunities for growth and development, becoming a licensed vocational nurse, then earning her associate degree in nursing to become a registered nurse. In 2020, she achieved a long-held goal by earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing, graduating with an impressive 4.8 GPA.
Today, Green plays a vital role at the Alta Bates Summit Oakland campus, working alongside the charge nurse to help develop workflows and lead quality improvement initiatives. She also holds multiple key responsibilities: she’s the department’s Epic medical records super user, the point-of-care testing super user and the lead for the new nursing focus project. In addition, she serves on the orthopedic center of excellence performance improvement team.
Now 52 years into her career, Green remains a steady and compassionate presence for patients and colleagues alike.
“I enjoy connecting with patients, and I’m driven by the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in their lives,” she says. “I’m grateful to be able to give back to the community where I was born, raised and educated.”
Feeding Wellness
Katrelia Robinson has spent 45 years transforming patient care through nutrition. Raised with a deep respect for nutrition and wellness, she turned childhood lessons into a lifelong calling, guiding patients toward healthier lives one meal at a time. Now, as a registered dietetic technician, Robinson believes that food is more than fuel, it’s a foundation for healing.
Robinson began her career at Providence Hospital in Oakland, the predecessor to the Alta Bates Summit campus, in 1980. She started as a diet clerk before transitioning to a dietitian assistant and then a nutrition and dietetics technician, registered.
“I love working in patient care,” she says. “It is one of my favorite parts of my job. Helping patients and making a positive impact in their care is important to me. Over the years, I’ve helped many patients with their diets and assisted them with any identified nutritional problems, and being that liaison between our department, the dietitian and the patients is really rewarding for me.”
Power of ONE Recognition
Sutter Health employees at a 2025 Power of ONE event.
Sutter Health’s Power of ONE Sutter Employee Experience event brings employees from across the organization together to connect and celebrate Sutter’s mission of caring for patients first and people always. Earlier this year, Sutter Health President and CEO Warner Thomas recognized both women for their exceptional service.
Green stood proudly when Thomas called her name. “When he got to 50 years, he said, ‘We have a nurse who has been here for 52 years. Where’s Melba Green?’” she says. “I was so excited. I stood up and shouted, ‘Here I am!’ My picture was up on the screen. I was really honored.”
Robinson, too, felt like a star as her photo lit up the screen in front of her peers. “That was exciting and fun,” she says. “I felt like a celebrity for a few minutes because people kept coming up to me and congratulating me.”
Their stories reflect what makes Sutter –and leading medical centers like Alta Bates Summit— a unique place to build a lifelong career: the opportunity to grow, to lead and to serve, supported by an organization that values its people as much as its patients.
Together, Green and Robinson are shining examples of Sutter’s mission to care for patients first and people always.
