In a historic deal announced today, ATG Rehab has acquired Chesapeake Rehab, thus adding 13 branch offices in six mid-Atlantic states.

With the acquisition, ATG Rehab (atgrehab.com) now has 41 offices in 24 states. In its announcement, ATG described the deal as the largest acquisition to date in the complex rehab technology industry.

Chesapeake Rehab founder and President Gary Gilberti becomes president of ATG Rehab’s newly created mid-Atlantic region, and ATG said Chesapeake’s ATP staff will continue to work out of their present locations.

“Our agreement with Chesapeake extends ATG’s reach, allowing us to deliver services in a new area of the country,” said ATG Rehab president/CEO Paul Bergantino. “Chesapeake’s long-standing reputation of excellence and strong community presence in the provision of mobility and adaptive seating equipment — under the careful watch of some of the best ATPs in the industry — is a tremendous and exciting addition to the ATG team.“

Gilberti said the two companies had been discussing such a move “for many years” and added, “The time is now right for us to do so. After a decade-long courtship, this is a great marriage of two organizations that, as one, will be able to provide an improved level of service and realize operational economies of scale. It’s a true ‘one plus one equals three’ opportunity.”

In total, ATG is adding about 170 staff members, including 29 ATPs. ATG is also establishing offices in the cities and states served by Chesapeake: Baltimore, Cumberland and Salisbury, Md.; Newark, Del.; Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pa.; Charlotte, Raleigh, Fayetteville and Wilmington, N.C.; Murrell’s Inlet, S.C.; and Roanoke and Richmond, Va.

Cody Verrett, ATG’s VP of sales and marketing, said in an interview with Mobility Management that the integration processes will start right away.

“We’re going to be converting them over to our system pretty quickly,” he said. “There’s going to be some ongoing training that’s going to start right away in July.”

Verrett anticipates the transition process will be made easier by the fact that ATG Rehab and Chesapeake Rehab have been using the same platform for such operations as billing and maintaining patient information.

“Our systems coincide in a lot of ways,” he said. “There are some features that are going to be new to the Chesapeake team, but it’s an integration that makes a lot of sense because we’re on the same exact platform.” Verrett says both companies have been using the SmA/Rt platform.

By the start of September, Verrett said, the goal is to have moved Chesapeake over to ATG’s platform completely. Chesapeake Rehab will also continue using its well-known name for the next few months, Verrett said, with a transition over to the ATG Rehab name scheduled for October.

Verrett said he expects Gilberti, known for his extensive advocacy for the industry, to continue that work as well.

“Gary’s going to balance both,” Verrett said, also referring to Gilberti’s regional presidency responsibilities. “He’s going to maintain his advocacy work and involvement with the industry. We’re lucky in the fact that we’re going to be gaining his strong advocacy and Washington, D.C., connections.”