The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

For Del Starr Simon on July 1, 2016 it will be 41 years at the Big Sandy Medical Center Laboratory and still going strong.

The Big Sandy native was born in Havre and raised 19 ½ miles northwest of Big Sandy. Her parents were Neil D and Amelia Kulbeck. Del has an older brother Don.

Del attended the North Star School and graduated from Big Sandy High School in 1967.

Her father wanted her to become a veterinarian. She was always bringing home animals that needed curing. Del thought that was a good idea as well and enrolled in Montana State College to study Veterinary Medicine.

That was until she took a class in Micro biology. That really got her going in a way that nothing else had so she enrolled in a Micro biology course.

Del had always sort of wanted to go into medicine and this was heading her in that general direction.

"My mother was from Pennsylvania. She had been a doctor's assistant. I think that was where I got my career started. I had been in the first quarter of nursing when I took that Micro biology class," added Del.

To say that changed her life was very true.

Del got an associate degree from Montana State College and fell in love so she continued her education at Northern Montana College in Havre where she got a degree in Chemical Technology Engineering.

She was married to Ronald Simon when tragedy struck and he was killed in a car accident leaving Del a widow and 7 ½ months pregnant.

"I was a widow at 20 and needed work. I decided to finish at Northern then went back to Montana State College to finish my degree in Microbiology," said Del.

Luckily Del had plenty of scholarships to help her through school and she worked while taking care of her daughter Angela. Today Del has two grandchildren Kendra and Christopher and one great grandchild Silam.

Del got her degree and graduated from Montana State College in June of 1975. On July 1, 1975 she went to work at the Big Sandy Medical Center Lab where she has been every since.

As might be expected she has gone through many administrators, doctors and PA's. She remembers that when she went to work Jerry Beaudette was the administrator and Dr. Patrick Murphy was the physician working there.

Of Course Del has seen many changes in the medical world in the almost 41 years she has been at the lab in Big Sandy.

"When I graduated from college medical discoveries were happening every five to ten years," Del said. "Now days medical discoveries are happening almost monthly. It is a different world."

Del said that some time ago she was at a Lab convention and looked at a display of antique lab equipment. She said that she had used in everyday use almost everything in that display!

Lots of paperwork in running a lab these days and everyone in the medical profession says that all that paperwork does not help the medical professionals look after their patients as much as they would like to.

However, at the Big Sandy Medical Center, they are still very much patient driven, paperwork or not.

"Where but here could you have someone come and pick you up at your home and take you to the Lab for Lab work, then take you back to your house?" Del says that happens in Big Sandy a lot.

And people who go to other medical venues for treatment ask that their lab work be done at Big Sandy on a frequent basis. Only around here would that happen, Del opines.

Retirement?

Not any time soon. Maybe in a couple of years. Del has many collections that need to be worked on and she would still have her consulting work she does at other labs across the nation.

But really Del is in no hurry to leave the Big Sandy Medical Center.

And that is good for Big Sandy and Medical Center patients too!