IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Akeso Occupational Health announced today the acquisition of Industrial Medical Group located in Santa Maria, CA. IMG is synonymous with top quality occupational health care for its agriculture, industrial and aerospace clients. This transaction is part of Akeso’s vision to build a highly scaled independent occupational health care platform and marks the fifth major acquisition for the company in the last twelve months.
“We are excited about this partnership and look forward to working with Drs. Christensen, Greenberg and Young, as well as the entire IMG staff, to continue providing exceptional occupational health services to employers in the Central Coast Region,” said Chuck Kruger, CEO of Akeso.
With the addition of IMG, Akeso continues its rapid expansion in the California market. “This partnership increases Akeso’s coverage to eight occupational health clinics in California, and further strengthens our ability to drive superior injured worker outcomes for a growing network of employers and payors,” said Kruger.
Akeso Occupational Health establishes occupational medicine clinic groups that improve injured worker outcomes through a focus on the patient and a commitment to better partnerships with the payor. They identify high performing doctors with like-minded goals of improving patient care and bring them together under an organization that has the resources and experience to support quality care. At the same time, Akeso reduces the friction that harms the key constituents in the worker compensation system: employers, payors, doctors, and–most importantly–the injured worker.
“The physicians of IMG are looking forward to the opportunities that come with joining forces with Akeso. We are both aligned in the vision of a practice that provides quality care and streamlines the process for clients,” said Paul E. Christensen, MD, a partner at IMG.
“Our providers visit job sites to understand the challenges employers and employees face. I have ridden on a transplanting machine, walked the rows in a celery field and put on a SCAPE suit used to protect workers who fuel space rockets,” said Dr. Christensen.
“Occupational medicine is challenging, recognizing the expectations of employers and employees may not be consistent with the realities of the highly guideline-driven workers’ compensation system. The partners at IMG with their training and experience work within the constraints of the system providing exceptional cost-effective medical services,” continued IMG partner Eric Greenberg, MD.
Founded over 30 years ago, Industrial Medical Group of Santa Maria Valley provides quality occupational medicine to the industrial, agriculture and aerospace communities, including work injury care, drug/alcohol testing, pre-placement exams and workers’ compensation evaluations. In addition to occupational testing and services, the clinic provides patients with DMV/DOT commercial driver license physicals, immigration (INS) physicals and FAA-certified pilot physicals.
IMG also offers unique services, such as a fully-equipped mobile clinic program that visits worksites to provide vaccinations, blood testing, OSHA respirator evaluations, fit testing of respiratory, audiometric testing and even physical examinations.
About Akeso Occupational Health (www.akesomedical.com)
Akeso Occupational Health develops occupational medicine clinic groups that improve injured worker outcomes through a focus on the patient and a commitment to better partnerships with the payor. The experts at Akeso believe the key to fixing the workers’ compensation system centers around a dedicated group of physicians committed to the right care, without financial incentives for over-treating injured workers. These highly skilled physicians are backed by a clinical organization that works more closely with the insurance carrier and employer to make sure that the right care is delivered in a more timely manner.
