Work-life balance – not easy but essential

Peggy Troy is many things. A nurse. A business executive. A wife. A dog lover. But first and foremost, Troy is a mom, and that role has helped propel her to her current position, president and CEO of Children's Hospital and Health System.

"When I was in nursing school at Marquette University, I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go," she recalled. "I was always interested in medicine – my father and
grandfather were doctors. But pediatrics? I hadn't thought much about that until I
was a graduate student nurse at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. I had a fabulous
nursing professor who taught me not only to provide care for those kids but to have
fun with them, and recognize the importance of that dimension, too. I discovered that I loved caring for kids and their families. With that experience, I was hooked.

"Once I had children myself, I could look at patient care from a parent's perspective and ask myself, 'What's important to me? What's important to my child?' Those thoughts have helped me be successful at work and at home."

Troy and her husband, Ron, have two daughters. Lindsey is a first-year medical
student at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, and Katie is an undergrad at Vassar College. Throughout Troy's career, balancing their needs with her career goals has been a top priority.

"It wasn't always easy," she said. "But I think it's so important to have work-life balance. I have a supportive spouse, and that really helps. We always knew what our priorities were. Even though we both had long workdays and travel demands, we made sure that one of us was home at night playing with the kids, doing homework or whatever. We were more or less interchangeable to the kids. As parents, we focused on what our girls really needed. We agreed that our most important work was to raise our children and take good care of them.

"When you lead a health care organization, you think about the same things. You put kids and their families first. That's what leads to success."

Troy's family is rooted in the Midwest. One of six children, she grew up in northern Illinois and still has a large, extended family living there and in Wisconsin. Long before joining CHHS on Jan. 12, Troy and her family made annual treks to Wisconsin for holidays and special events. "This past Thanksgiving, there were at least 50 of us at dinner spanning four generations," she said. "That's one of many reasons I'm excited about my new role. It brings us closer to the rest of our family. It's like I've come full circle."

Before she closed the geographic loop, Troy worked in nursing and administration
for children's hospitals in Illinois, Texas and Tennessee. Most recently, she worked as chief operating officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Previously, she served
as chief executive officer of that system's pediatric hospital, Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis.

Today, she's immersed in Children's Hospital and Health System, applying her "kids-and-families-first" philosophy to the challenges ahead. She and her husband also are house-hunting, hoping to find a new home on or near a lake so her family can indulge in a favorite pastime, sailing. "Whenever we had downtime, we spent it with our
kids, usually doing water sports," Troy said. Although her daughters are busy with college and medical school, she hopes to introduce them to sailing in Milwaukee when they visit on spring break.