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OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2021 • IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT
Dr. Margo Saunders Jumps
into a New Chapter of Life
BY DIANNA TROYER
The line between patient and friend
often blurred for Dr. Margo Saunders during
her 27-year career in Minidoka and Cassia
counties of southeastern Idaho.
“No matter where I drive around here,
I go past former patients’ homes where
I’ve made house calls,” said Saunders, an
internal medicine specialist and former
chief of medicine at Minidoka Memorial
Hospital in Rupert.
Despite her retirement starting October
1, she is still vital to her former patients.
Driving by Jim Casey’s home near Rupert,
she pulled into his driveway to say hi. Petite,
radiant and high energy, she and Casey
laughed as they talked about their decades-
old friendship.
“If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here,”
said Casey, 75. “She made a new man out
of me. She helped me through the toughest
time of my life—when my wife died in a
hunting accident. Since then, she’s kept me
going in spite of all I have—COPD, arthritis
pain, some lung, back, and hip issues.”
Casey said Saunders would be missed at
the office.
“I’ll keep asking her for advice as a
friend,” Casey said.
Saunders not only saw patients at their
homes, but also in the hospital, the adja-
cent Minidoka Medical Plaza, and local
nursing homes.
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ALL ABOUT IDAHO PAGE 7
She was recruited to Rupert during her
residency at the Boise VA Medical Center.
Saunders said several recent life events
compelled her to retire.
“A friend my age died from Covid in June,”
she said. “My mom has dementia, so I want
to spend more time with her. I celebrated
my 68th birthday on September 20, and I’m
looking forward to having more time to ride
my horses while I’m fit and healthy.”
For 20 years, Saunders has been compet-
Dr. Margo Saunders’s winning ribbons from hunter/ ing on the hunter/jumper circuit throughout
jumper horse shows were sewn into a colorful the West. She also rides with a local drill
tapestry to decorate an exam room. Photo by Dianna team, the Wranglers.
Troyer.
After establishing her medical practice,
A 1990 graduate of the University of Saunders developed her horse business.
Washington School of Medicine, Saunders “I’ve been horse crazy since I was 5,”
said she was drawn to internal medicine. she said. “I had no real opportunity to have
“It’s interesting, and every case is dif- horses until I was in my 50s ,and could
ferent,” she said. “You can have three afford to ride and take jumping lessons. I
patients with leukemia, and treatment for made up for lost time.”
each one varies. Analyzing how a patient’s Her clinic office was decorated with doz-
systems interact is like solving a puzzle with ens of her blue, red, and yellow show ribbons.
simultaneous moving parts.” A friend had other ribbons sewn into a tap-
At times, she was the only physician in estry that decorated an exam room.
the emergency room. “My horses were a good outlet for me
“With a car accident, several victims after work,” she said.
would be coming in,” she said. “How do Her home is adjacent to a horse facility
you pick who you think will survive? I asked she bought from a local trainer and riding
God to direct my thoughts and to let me see instructor who retired. She named the
what I need to see.” place Serenity Pastures and Stables and
The one thing Saunders had control over specializes in boarding horses “for rest,
in her career was choosing where to practice. rehabilitation, retirement, and respite.”
“I wanted to live in a rural area,” she Saunders said she is grateful many
said. “I like a slower pace of life and having patients, like Jim Casey, will always be friends.
time to develop a personalized relationship “She’s a joy to know,” Casey said. “She’s
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