To the Editor,

I would like to congratulate Dr. M. David Rhee for his recent retirement. I want to recognize him for all of the medical care and service he gave to this community during his career. I would like to congratulate him on a job well done and for going far above and beyond a physician’s job description.

I am sure Dr. Rhee will be sorely missed as a talented physician, surgeon and caregiver. Yes, I say caregiver, because he always made me feel truly cared for as a patient and as a person. He delivered three of my four children, as well as all of my nieces and nephews that were born in Sidney. Dr. Rhee was honestly the best doctor I have ever gone to in my lifetime. What stands out to me the most was his wonderful bedside manner. He treated me like a person and not just a number. There could be a room full of patients in the waiting room, but when Dr. Rhee came into the exam room, he never failed to put his hand out and ask how I was and if everything was okay. He always made eye contact and made me feel important and valued as a patient. When my daughter was born with beta strep B, he stopped in every day and asked about her progress. After I suffered a miscarriage, Dr. Rhee could also feel our loss as he expressed his sympathy with eyes glistening.

While office wait times are often brief at large “progressive” modern offices that are popular today, in my opinion, they leave a lot to be desired with their lack of bedside manners. It is generally very quick and you are in and out so very quickly that you feel like you are at a convenience store or farmed through like dairy cows. It’s very efficient, and society says this is progress but I think it is a definite decline in care and social civility. To me, Dr. Rhee was worth the wait on occasion. I’m afraid that there will never be another Dr. Rhee for us.

In closing, congratulations Dr. Rhee! I hope you enjoy this next phase of your life, wherever this journey brings you. You are a wonderful physician and exemplary person of character.

Sincerely,

Laurie (Spangler) Coffey

Stearns, Kentucky