Celessta Merrill is a proud member of the Navajo tribe.  Her clans are Tł’izídaałchií  (Red goat people) born for Tó’aheedlíinii (water that flows together). She was born and raised on the Navajo reservation in Hogback, NM.  She completed her ADN from Utah State University, then received her BSN from Dixie State University. She worked as a registered nurse for more than 6 years before going back to school to complete her Masters degree in nursing. She graduated from Westminster College in 2019 with her Masters degree in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner. After Graduate school she worked as a TelePrimary Care Nurse Practitioner at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center for 3 years serving the Veteran population in Oklahoma, Montana, Colorado, Nevada and Idaho. She left the VA in 2022 to serve her Native community down on the Navajo reservation.  She worked for IHS in New Mexico at the Gallup Indian Medical Center as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Celessta is very passionate about disease prevention and promoting spiritual, mental and physical health and wellness in all her patients.