Page 12 - Mobility Management, June 2019

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Travis Medical’s Steady Growth Is Raising Its Profile
CEO Chris Yule and his team at Travis Medical like to keep a low profile.
In April, the company announced it was “combining operations” with American Seating & Mobility (ASM), a complex rehab technology provider in the Northwestern United States.
With that move, Travis Medical now has 24 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Staying out of the headlines is getting harder thanks to Travis Medical’s continued growth. The ASM acquisi- tion follows 2016 acquisitions of All American Medical in Oklahoma, and Mobility Solutions in Florida.
But in keeping with the low profile Travis Medical prefers, ASM locations will continue to operate under the
identity well known to clients, referral sources and payors. “They’re going to operate under their own name going
forward,” Yule said. “There’s no reason for us to change that. They spent 17 years building that, and they have a great reputation.”
Future Plans Include Further Growth
A smooth transition is important to Yule and the Travis Medical team. “[ASM] will continue to run as they are day to day,” Yule said. “There’s no reason to pull the rug out from everybody. With the world that we live in and all its technology, location isn’t as important as it used to be. I met a bunch of their folks [at ASM], and they’re super people. They’ve been doing this very well for quite some time.”
While Yule said Travis Medical will study ASM’s play- book, he said he’s in no hurry to change operations, and he added that the Travis Medical team will also be looking to learn from ASM.
“We’ve learned a lot from Florida,” Yule said, refer- encing the Mobility Solutions purchase. “We’ve learned a lot from all the acquisitions. There’s no reason this should be any different. We may make some changes; we just don’t know what those are yet.”
The entire ASM and Travis Medical team, however, is dedicated to maintaining business as usual for stake- holders: “The structure to the clinicians, the clients and the payors, nothing’s going to change at this point in time. The last thing you want is for the consumer to be affected. Our goal is to take care of consumers with disabilities. If they’ve got a great reputation up there [in the Northwest], why would you jeopardize that?”
During the acquisition process, Yule said he spent a lot of time with Andrew Jeske, ASM’s owner who stays on as Senior VP to head the company’s Northwest operations. “I spent a lot of time with Andy and his staff over the last 36 months,” Yule said. “They’re super people in a custom- er-first, very good organization. They reminded us a lot of ourselves. Looking at the staff and the people and their goals, we all motivate each other, which is good.”
Yule continues to keep any specific future Travis Medical plans quiet for now, but he said the company is “absolutely” interested in more acquisitions.
“If we can get other people on the bus,” he said, “that would be wonderful.” m
12 JUNE2019|MOBILITYMANAGEMENT
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