I’ve spent my life working hard—25 years running our family business, Rainbow Cleaning Systems, and now putting in long haul miles behind the wheel of a truck. I’m no stranger to long days on the road. In fact, right before I got sick, I had been from Quebec, Canada, down to Laredo, Texas, back up through Wisconsin, and finally into Kansas. Somewhere along that journey, something didn’t feel right.
I suddenly found myself unable to catch my breath, having a real struggle to breathe. I remember thinking, “What is happening to me?” I assumed it might be pneumonia or something similar, but when you’re hundreds of miles from home, that kind of thought hits differently.
I rolled into Beloit, Kansas, and honestly, I didn’t even know if the town had a hospital. I pulled out my phone, googled, and there it was. So, I went straight over, not really expecting much. What happened next was the opposite of anything I’ve ever experienced in an ER.
The moment I walked in, they took one look at me and immediately got me back—not hours later, not after sitting in a waiting room, but right then. The nurse didn’t waste a second. Everyone was calm, friendly and genuinely concerned. I remember thinking, “Oh my goodness … I’m not used to this.” Where I’m from, you can sit for hours before anyone even checks on you.
But here? They went to work.
The care was incredible. Dr. Cheney was outstanding—thorough, thoughtful and kind. The nurse, Stacey Shipp, was exceptional. The front desk staff greeted me as if they already knew me. The team drew labs, took a chest X-ray, and started IV steroids. The respiratory therapists, Janet Dameron Gengler and Jason Livesay, jumped in with breathing treatments right away. Everyone communicated. Everyone cared. Everyone made sure I was okay.
And then Dr. Cheney did something I’ll never forget. He called the pharmacy and arranged delivery because he knew I wouldn’t be done in time to pick up my medication. He asked me to stay in town overnight just to be safe and reminded me to follow up with my doctor when I got home.
I just sat there thinking, “Thank you, Lord, that I ended up in Beloit, Kansas.”
After I left, I started reading reviews of the hospital and suddenly everything made sense. People already knew what I had just discovered: this is top-notch care. The kind of care you don’t see much anymore. It felt like stepping back in time to when doctors and nurses treated you like a human being, not a number.
I told my wife, “I could live in Beloit, Kansas. That place was wonderful.”
And I meant it.
In small-town hospitals, there’s often an assumption that maybe they’re not as good as what you’d find in a major city. What I found instead was excellence. Not flashy, but real. Not distant, but personal. Not transactional, but compassionate. To everyone who cared for me, thank you for being exactly where I needed you, exactly when I needed you.
Tom Edwards, Texas resident