Deb Hargens retires after more than 38 years with CCH

When Deb Hargens started work at Campbell County Health in Gillette, Wyoming 38 years ago, transcription was done on a manual typewriter with carbon paper. She remembers being very excited to get to use an electric typewriter with one line of memory.

“It was the greatest thing,” said Deb.

While there was a dictation system, it didn’t fast forward or back up—everything had to be transcribed in chronological order for the physicians to sign. She was also part of the crew that moved files from the old hospital on West Eighth Street to the current location, and helped store old radiology films in the ‘cage’ on the ground floor before the transfer to all digital images.

Deb moved to Gillette in 1979 and came to work as a transcriptionist in the Radiology department. There were five people in the department when she started, a far cry from the 29 people there are now working in the two different locations.

Transcription wasn’t Deb’s favorite thing to do, so she was glad to move into other aspects of the Radiology department. She became the Meditech specialist for Radiology, which included building new procedures and changing CPT codes in the system. She also helped develop the NIOSH chest x-ray program for the department.

Deb says she will miss the people, and having someplace she has to be on a regular basis. You might just see her as a CCH volunteer in the future. She is looking forward to traveling and spending time with her grandchildren, especially taking them camping and swimming this summer. Deb also wants to work on refinishing all the furniture she’s collected over the years.

According to Radiology Director Terri Kinney, Deb’s retirement means a significant loss of knowledge for the whole organization, not just her department. “How do you bottle and save all that?” said Terri.

Thanks Deb, for your hard work and dedication for more than 38 years.