Board-certified Pediatrician John Cole, MD, MS, joined the team at Logan Health Children’s Primary Care in August 2015. The Minnesota native earned both his medical degree and a Master of Science in Anatomy and Cellular Biology at Rush University in Chicago. In 2009, his Rush classmates selected him to be a member of the Gold Foundation’s Humanism in Medicine Society. Dr. Cole completed his Pediatrics internship and residency at the University of Vermont. The University of Vermont College of Medicine Class of 2014 awarded him the Gold Foundation’s Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award. He began his professional practice at St. James Hospital in Butte, Montana from 2013 to 2015. There he initiated an obesity prevention program called FitKids 360 that focused on healthy lifestyle habits for the community of Butte.
In addition to caring for his patients while at Logan Health Children’s Primary Care, Dr. Cole teaches residents and medical students. In 2017, he received the community attending award for excellence in teaching from the University of Montana Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana. He served as the Pediatric Department Chair for Logan Health from 2020 to 2022 and as President of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) from 2020 to 2022. In 2021, the chapter won the best small chapter award from the AAP for its innovative work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, Dr. Cole has traveled to outreach pediatric clinic sites in Polson, MT, and the Fort Peck Reservation in addition to his primary office in Kalispell, MT. Dr. Cole and his wife, Wendy, a wildlife biologist, live outside Kalispell. He enjoys outdoor activities such as swimming, biking, running, and skiing. However, his favorite pastime is open water swimming. In 2017, he became the 6th person to swim the entire length of Flathead Lake (28 miles) in one go, without a wetsuit, to raise awareness for a local charity. His mornings often begin with a swim before clinic.