Peggy Martino, NP-C

Originally from eastern Montana – Hardin to be specific – Peggy Martino grew up on a farm that raised sheep and alfalfa. From a young age, she knew she wanted to care for others – she just thought “others” would be sheep, dogs, and chickens – as veterinary medicine interested her initially. However, Peggy too fell in love with rural health while watching her mom, who worked as a diabetes prevention nurse with Indian Health Services, pore herself into her career and her community.

Peggy went on to work as a Cardiac RN at St. Pat’s Hospital in Missoula for 13 years. She loved her job, but being passionate about prevention, in particular, she craved the ability to work more “upstream” with patients – preventing, more so than just treating chronic disease. She went back to school as a non-traditional student, completing her Master’s and 800 hours of clinical internships around the state – including two here at St. Luke. Peggy enjoyed training hands-on in rural communities and getting the chance to join her two biggest passions – science and helping people. “This is something that lets me do both,” she says.

Peggy likes getting to know patients on a personal level, especially kids. “They’re always themselves and so uninhibited.” She looks forward to supporting Dr. Megan Vigil’s practice since they share so many interests. Peggy recognizes that physical health and mental health “can’t be separated.” She likes to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to healthcare – to create better outcomes for patients.

Peggy’s personal interests include outdoor pursuits such as kayaking, hiking, and camping – especially in forest service cabins off the grid. She loves to play board games and just “enjoy the quiet.” Peggy also loves to cook and spoil her cats and pug. When asked what she attributes her success in life to, Peggy says, “I was jumping rope inside, caught the TV antennae and it broke! This mishap led to a childhood of riding sheep and reading books. I’m not sure my life would have taken the same path otherwise.”