Dr. Scott Herbert and John De Lay create an impact throughout our community.
Dr. Scott Herbert, MD - Oncologist at AdventHealth Castle Rock
Dr. Scott Herbert, MD, has known many communities throughout his endeavor to become a doctor. He grew up in Illinois, where he attended college at Illinois Wesleyan University and went to medical school at Southern Illinois University. His residency brought him to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, followed by an oncology and hematology training at Indiana University. Shortly after, he moved to New Mexico, where he opened up a private practice.
Even with the wide berth of places he’s been, the town of Castle Rock already feels like home. As the first oncologist at the new cancer center at AdventHealth Castle Rock, Dr. Herbert is amazed by what the Castle Rock community offers.
“The fact that the community worked so hard for a couple of years to get this facility financed and built really shows everybody’s dedication and involvement in the project,” Dr. Herbert explains. “It’s a community that deserves to have its own cancer center.”
With 19 years of experience in private practice in New Mexico, Dr. Herbert recently moved to Castle Rock to support the new cancer center. Despite the short tenure, his impact is already being felt throughout the community.
“I’ve actually had a lot of patients that were treated at other facilities, and now they prefer to be treated closer to home,” Dr. Herbert says. “When you’re going through therapy and when you have repeat appointments for radiation or chemotherapy, the last thing you want to do is fight traffic or drive 40 minutes somewhere.”
With emotions running high through such a difficult time, Dr. Herbert’s interest lies in discovering how the mind and body connection impacts a person when going through cancer treatment.
“I was always really interested in the mind/body connection and how emotions really impact your body, whether that was in tumor surveillance or side effects from therapy,” he says. “I thought cancer really lent itself to exploring that question.”
With this new cancer center, Dr. Herbert can also help patients find cancer studies they may qualify for in the hopes of furthering research right here in Castle Rock and in conjunction with other AdventHealth hospitals.
“Our research program is getting off the ground,” he says proudly. “We’ll be able to tap into studies that are open at all our other sites.”
Having seen patients through many different types of cancers, such as lung, prostate, breast, lymphoma, and more, Dr. Herbert understands the weight of the diagnosis, what it means for the future, and how he has his patients’ trust to guide them through such a difficult time.
“I was drawn to cancer care because it was a chance to be part of really impactful decisions,” he explains. “All the decisions around that process, whether the people get better or they have post-traumatic stress disorder afterward, or they have to transition to palliative care or hospice and say goodbye, those are big, life-changing discussions and decisions. It’s such a privilege to be a part of it.”
John De Lay - Owner of Pegasus Restaurant in Castle Rock
Stepping into Pegasus Restaurant in Downtown Castle Rock fills customers with a sense of home and family. For owner John De Lay and his wife Janie, that type of atmosphere is exactly what they’re most proud of after 50 years in the food industry.
“Next month is my 50th anniversary,” John exclaims. “I started [in the restaurant business] June 28, 1976, and Janie and I got married a month and a half later, on August 14, 1976. So this is my centennial year.”
He goes on to describe what truly fills his cup throughout his time in the restaurant industry. “It’s the quality of our customers and staff. We have lots of repeat customers, and it’s like the Cheers theme song, where everybody knows your name. We’ve also had three Torres brothers work for us for 30 years.”
Listening to John’s stories about buying the current Pegasus building and renovating it to purchasing a hundred-year-old roulette wheel he proudly displays in the restaurant’s bar to hearing about the time he had a meal with George Lucas, it’s no wonder loyal customers come back for more.
“Most of it’s true,” he jokes about his countless stories that fill the restaurant with ease and delight.
“Two guys are walking our way,” John recalls on the day he met George Lucas in September 1984 at a restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas. “And the one guy I knew…the other guy I didn’t recognize. It was George Lucas. We sat for two and a half hours…they took a tour of the restaurant, and walked into the kitchen…and George Lucas couldn’t have been more pleasant.”
John’s stories flow throughout the restaurant, bringing humor and delight to Pegasus’s atmosphere. Pair that with the delightfully eclectic menu featuring American, Greek, and Mexican cuisines, and customers receive an experience that transcends a regular meal.
John’s belief in the Castle Rock community transcended to the Chamber of Commerce. His time on the board in the 90s paved the way for the outlets that had an enormous financial impact on the town, showing his love for the local community.
“They [a California company] showed us how the outlet mall would change everything in Castle Rock, but also move the economy downtown,” he explains. “And everything they told us was right.”
Not long ago, the Chamber called him to come back. “Four years ago, they called me. The director at the time wanted me to come back to the board. I asked why, and she said, ‘We need someone historical. We need someone on the board who was here before the outlets’…I’ve been on the board four years now.”
It’s a good thing John took a chance on the town of Castle Rock all those years ago, because there’s no doubt that his impact has been felt far and wide in this ever-growing community called home.
“I was drawn to cancer care because it was a chance to be part of really impactful decisions,” Dr. Herbert explains.
“We have lots of repeat customers, and it’s like the Cheers theme song where everybody knows your name," John says.