Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Doug Williams, Grow Hays/Agiliti

 

At a glance: In northwest Kansas, a business founded to build specialized wheelchairs has been purchased by Agiliti, which manufactures state-of-the-art hospital beds and other medical devices across the nation. In Hays, the business transaction was facilitated by Grow Hays.

More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690

Photos: Ron Wilson | Doug Williams

Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

April 8, 2026

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University

In order to respond to the changing conditions of modern times, a business needs several things – including agility.

Today we’ll meet a company that has demonstrated agility in the health care products market – even in the name itself.

Agiliti is a leading provider of medical device solutions to the U.S. healthcare industry. The company recently made a significant investment in rural Kansas.

Doug Williams is executive director of Grow Hays, the economic development organization in Ellis County. His organization played an instrumental role in facilitating this new investment.

At right: Doug Williams | Download this photo

Back in 1988, a northwest Kansas grocery store owner named Willard Frickey attended an economic development meeting. The economic development group was looking for ideas for possible businesses.

One of the ideas was a specialized wheelchair company. Frickey thought this was a good idea, but it didn't catch on with the other people at the meeting. He decided that if he truly believed in the idea, he should try it himself. He founded a company to manufacture such wheelchairs in Oberlin and began with four employees.

The company was named Wheelchairs of Kansas. In 1996, the company moved to Ellis. It later changed its name to Sizewise, expanded to other types of medical equipment, and opened a 14.9 acre manufacturing facility in Hays while continuing under the leadership of the Frickey family.

Agiliti was founded in Minnesota in 1939 as an oxygen tent rental service. Through the years, that company expanded and diversified its medical product offerings. Now known as Agiliti, it acquired Sizewise in 2021 and assumed full ownership of the Hays facility in 2025.

Today, Agiliti is a leading manufacturer and service provider of essential medical and surgical equipment to the U.S. healthcare industry. Its products include next-generation hospital beds, therapeutic support surfaces and mobility equipment that go to 10,000 healthcare providers nationwide.

Agiliti’s Hays facility features state-of-the-art manufacturing to produce the latest generation of hospital beds. The Hays campus is a main production hub for Agiliti’s latest trademarked innovation called Essentia.

Essentia is described as a multi-acuity hospital bed, meaning that its versatility enables it to serve patients at various levels of medical need. It consists of a specially built bed frame designed to support a wide range of patients across different hospital settings.

Essentia offers caregivers the flexibility to tailor care based on patient risk profiles and features special safety capabilities to help accelerate patient mobility and reduce risk to caregivers. These products go to customers coast-to-coast.

The Hays facility employs more than 90 people. Agiliti currently employs an additional 60 team members in the nearby rural community of Ellis, population 1,958 people. Now, that’s rural.

The company plans to expand its local workforce over the next five years, creating new opportunities for skilled jobs, training and career advancement.

“Agiliti’s investment in Hays is a powerful affirmation of our community’s skilled workforce and innovative spirit,” Williams said. “This expansion not only brings new jobs and career pathways to our residents, it strengthens our position as a center for advanced healthcare manufacturing and long-term economic growth.”

“This is more than a business transaction, it’s a vote of confidence in our local team whose work is essential to the important work we do nationwide,” said Agiliti CEO Tom Leonard. “We’re proud to invest in a community that has long been a hub of innovation and craftsmanship in healthcare manufacturing.”

Brian Frickey, former CEO of Sizewise, added: “This campus has been part of our family’s story for decades, and we couldn’t be prouder to see it enter a new chapter with Agiliti, Agiliti’s investment in Hays is not only a boost for our local economy, it’s a continuation of a legacy of innovation, care and community pride.”

For more information, see www.agilitihealth.com.

In order to succeed in modern times, a company must be agile to respond to changing opportunities and market demands. We commend Doug Williams of Grow Hays and all those involved with Agiliti for making a difference with innovative health care products.

They will keep this business on the move in the marketplace.

 

Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.

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K‑State Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the wellbeing of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.