How many of you refrained from going to the doctor, not because you “got better” or had second thoughts about going, but primarily because of how expensive it is? Probably a good chunk of you. Even with health insurance and other types of financial assistance for medical expenses, the costs for doctor appointments, lab work, treatments, surgeries, and the like can add up very quickly. It’s stressful just thinking about it.
Fortunately, there are doctors out there who understand from the patient’s perspective and know just how stressful it can be paying medical bills. Dr. Don Rice is one of those medical professionals, and better yet, he decided to do something about it for Random Acts of Kindness Day on February 17th, 2020.
So, this Monday, the doctor decided to pay $4,000-worth of co-pays for his patients.
A grand total of 80 of Dr. Rice’s patients who visited the Urgent Care Clinic of Lincoln, Nebraska received not a medical bill but a #KindnessIsContagious card instead, which can be seen below. What a lovely surprise that must have been!
In return for the free urgent care visit, Dr. Rice simply asked that his patients return the kindness in some way to someone else whether that be a friend, family member, neighbor, or complete stranger.
The doctor is a firm believer that if he spreads kindness to others, those people will also be encouraged to spread kindness as well, as would the people they spread kindness to, and so on. In turn, it would create a cycle of kindness around the community.
Dr. Don Rice said he was inspired to engage in the selfless act by a beloved family friend who recently died. Even though the friend was diagnosed with two different types of cancer, he still managed to be kind to everyone he’d come across, even strangers.
The doctor believes that if we were all kinder, life would be a lot easier for the each of us.
“I think that we have a culture that sometimes forgets that we can have a much better world if we start being kinder to each other,” Dr. Rice said.
What a great man! Dr. Rice is right. If we were all nicer, more empathetic, and more considerate of others and their situations, imagine how much more beautiful life would be. And it all starts with just one kind person.
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