Standing up for children has been a driving force throughout Peggy Troy’s career in pediatric care.
Troy, president and chief executive officer of Wauwatosa-based Children’s Wisconsin, is the 2024 BizTimes Media Woman Executive of the Year. Her journey in pediatrics began in the 1970s as a nursing student at Marquette University – and she has worked to ensure kids get the best health care ever since.
Troy became the first female president and CEO of Children’s Wisconsin in 2009. She is set to retire at the end of the year; Gil Peri, former president of Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis, will be her successor. Today, the Children’s Wisconsin health system has more than 6,500 employees in the state.
Troy earned her bachelor’s in nursing from Marquette University and her master’s in nursing from DePaul University in Chicago. While studying at Marquette, she was a nurse intern at what was then known as Milwaukee Children’s Hospital. Upon graduating, she joined Children’s as a pediatric nurse in 1975. Troy later worked at hospitals in Chicago, Texas and Tennessee before returning to Children’s Wisconsin as its top leader.
In Chicago, Troy started as a staff nurse at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital – then known as Children’s Memorial Hospital – before being promoted to a nursing supervisor role. During this time in Chicago, she studied at DePaul University.
Troy then moved to Texas, where her husband was transferred for work. She started at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth as the director of nursing for the neonatal intensive care unit before getting promoted to run the hospital. She also went on to lead Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, before her promotion to chief operating officer there.
Attending nursing school, working as a staff nurse and then taking on the successive leadership roles were all pivotal points of her career, said Troy: “It’s been a journey, and every step of the way has been incremental to how I have evolved over time.”
Discovering a passion for children’s health care
Growing up in a medical family taught Troy important lessons about caring for generations of patients.
Troy’s grandfather was a physician, and her father ultimately took over his practice.
“I learned a lot about the kindness and caring and compassion that it would take to take care of people,” Troy said.
It wasn’t until college that Troy found a love for pediatric health care. She found mentorship in Dr. Jean Hennessey, her pediatric nursing instructor at Marquette University.
“I didn’t think I was going to go into pediatrics, and she was so phenomenal in how she approached kids,” Troy said of Hennessey.
Learning from Hennessey was “such a joyful experience” that it “launched” her into pediatrics, Troy said.
Working as a staff nurse while in college also helped Troy realize her passion for children’s health care, she said.
“I just wanted what was best for them – to make sure that they got the best and safest care – and that they also got the compassion, because obviously when kids are ill or injured and in a hospital, it’s a very stressful time not only for the child, but for the parents as well,” Troy said.
In her role as nursing supervisor in Chicago, Troy found enjoyment in serving in a leadership position as it allowed her to solve problems and “create influence to make sure we were doing everything we could for kids,” she said.
Advancing health care for kids
There are a number of pride points for Troy when it comes to the work Children’s has done under her leadership to improve pediatric health care. In recent years, the health system has expanded the physical footprint of its Wauwatosa campus and executed on a $150 million initiative to address growing mental and behavioral health needs among Wisconsin children.
Troy is most proud of what Children’s Wisconsin has accomplished in improving pediatric mental health services.
In 2017, Children’s started to analyze the issue of mental health among kids, and at that time, there were limited mental health services amid a culture of stigma. It could take six months to a year to get an appointment, she said.
“We’ve been able to design a program here where we’ve embedded mental therapists in the pediatric offices, so that as parents are coming in for their developmental screen or whatever else happens to be going on in their lives, we’ve got somebody right there that can start to talk to them – and you don’t have to wait,” Troy said.
Having this service available at walk-in clinics, in addition to primary care offices, is “a game changer,” she said.
“We’re getting to kids sooner,” Troy said. “So, we’re starting to do research right now to determine that this actually works.”
Those efforts in mental health services stem from the organization’s vision statement, adopted in 2011, that kids in Wisconsin will be the healthiest in the nation. This means addressing a child’s physical health, dental health, social health and mental health, she said.
“That’s been such a galvanizing force,” Troy said. “All the decisions we make are with that north star.”
The new vision statement prompted a culture journey at Children’s in 2011, as Troy said the workforce needed to “drive on” that vision.
“The way you develop that is that you have a culture in your organization that says to every person that works here, ‘You’re important, you matter, you make a difference,’” Troy said. “And no matter where you work in the organization, what you do every single day is driving towards that vision. And that’s the way we’re going to accomplish it.”
Reflecting on life and career
As the former chair of the Children’s Hospital Association, Troy said she was proud to help shape policy on behalf of kids.
“It’s really important that we think about kids when we’re making decisions in our communities and in our country,” Troy said.
She said one of her greatest accomplishments has been leading not only at the local level, but also as a national spokesperson for children. She also serves on the National Health Care CEO Council on Gun Violence Prevention and Safety.
“Kids don’t vote, so we have to be very, very proactive to be that voice,” Troy said.
Both of her daughters have followed in her footsteps by pursuing careers in health and wellness. One of her daughters is a pediatric intensive care physician at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, while her other daughter “helps people in their health journey” with yoga, meditation and natural healing, Troy said.
“I’m very proud of them,” she said. “And they come at it with the same sort of spirituality that I have, (which) is that you just really want to do something to make people’s lives better, and that’s what gets you up every day and drives your heart,” Troy said.
Troy’s three sisters also worked as nurses, she said, so “it’s in my DNA.”
Support from her family, especially her daughters and husband, made everything possible, Troy said.
“Had I not had their support, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done,” she said.
