Paul Leavy/The Valdosta Daily Times Acute Rehab Equipment owners Jerry Newman, left, and Mike Daniels, in the showroom of their new building in Valdosta.

VALDOSTA — There’s no need to look to Jacksonville, Fla., or Atlanta for the latest in high-tech medical rehabilitation devices, like those highly mobile wheelchairs seen on TV commercials. The owners of Acute Rehab Equipment Inc. believe that locally owned, independent providers can offer a higher quality of service.

“A guy that needs a repair on his wheelchair can call us. We’ll take care of it,” said Acute Rehab co-owner Jerry Newman.

Newman, a home respiratory and medical equipment specialist, and fellow partner Mike Daniels, a pediatric, custom seating and mobility specialist, started Acute Rehab nine years ago.

They relocated the now thriving business in March, moving from the original location at a 3,000 square foot storefront shop at 404 E. Northside Drive into a beautiful, brand new red-bricked executive office suite of 5,000 square feet in the Northwind Office Complex on North Oak Street Extension.

The custom built suite is fully handicap accessible. Rightly so. Many of Acute Rehab’s customers are permanently wheelchair bound, or use walkers, or are recovering from debilitating injuries that leave them temporarily handicapped or requiring Acute Rehab services and equipment.

Newman and Daniels saw a local need and decided to try to meet it by creating Acute Rehab.

“Business got so good, we just outgrew the other location,” Newman said. “The builder said he could finish this (new) place in 90 days. We laughed and said, ‘Yeah sure.’ OK so maybe they’ll keep a good schedule. But they did better. They finished this in 87 days. We were shocked and pretty happy, as you can imagine. This is a beautiful location.”

Acute Rehab offers an extensive range of durable medical equipment and disposable medical supplies, and provides delivery, setup and personalized education and training on the use of the equipment. The company’s service area include South Georgia and North Florida. The firm operates a second location in Moultrie at No. 5 Hospital Park.

“Our mission is to bring comfort and independence to the lives of our patients by providing quality equipment through professional, reliable service. We place the wellness of our patients above all else,” the company’s brochure states.

Normally, a patient will require Acute Rehab’s services after getting a prescription from a doctor, in order to satisfy insurance requirements. But patient/customers can come straight to the store to obtain whatever supplies or equipment they need, Newman said.

Acute Rehab offers power, manual and custom wheelchairs, anything from the cheaper standard versions to the high-end $40,000-and-up laser-powered versions. It also offers scooters, hospital beds, walkers, canes, crutches, bathroom and shower aids, orthopedic products, compression hosiery, incontinence products, nebulizers, apnea monitors, phototherapy (Bili) beds, air flow devices, home and portable oxygen, enteral nutrition, alternative communication devices and more.

You can find breast pumps for mothers, blood glucose testers for diabetics and a wide asundry of other items in the company’s lobby. This visitor even found an aneroid sphygmomanometer, better known as a blood pressure gauge.

Acute Rehab also has a fully functional repair shop for fixing medical equipment, including the latest high-tech wheelchairs and mobility devices.

Newman and Daniels each have earned medical certifications that they contend make Acute Rehab the best local choice to pick when in need of such services.

Newman is an R.N. who worked as a nurse at Fellowship Home, a personal care home on Highway 133, for seven years prior to co-partnering to start Acute Rehab. He also has an ATP (Assistive Technology Practitioner) certification.

Daniels has an ATS (Assistive Technology Supplier) certification and a CRTS (Certified Rehabilitation Technology Supplier) certification.

“Basically, our certifications help us and our customers to meet the requirements of insurance companies for obtaining medical equipment and services such as ours, and the certifications also give us a great edge over the vast majority of our local competitors,” Daniels said.

Acute Rehab accepts Medicare, Medicaid, Tri-Care, state health benefits and most private insurance plans.





Q: What is Acute Rehab Equipment Inc.?



A: We’re a medical equipment provider and we service and manufacture equipment as well.



Q: What do you offer?



A: Hospital beds, oxygen, nebulizers, scooters, power/manual/custom wheelchairs, lifts and carriers. A lot more!



Q: Why did you expand and relocate?



A: We outgrew our other location. A very smart businessman suggested this location.



Q: How will the new location benefit customers?



A: It provides easier access. There’s less traffic. It’s completely handicap-accessible with ramps and electric doors.



Q: What are prices like?



A: Prices are usually dictated by the insurance companies. When insurance companies don’t cover an item, we can be competitive.



Q: Do you file insurance for the customer?



A: Yes.



Q: What are your expectations?



A: To continue to grow throughout South Georgia. We are also located in Moultrie and provide service to most of the state below Macon.



Q: What would you like people to know about your business?



A: We are rapidly expanding our services with cutting edge technology and personal attention to clients’ needs. We are a full service repair center for all home medical equipment (HME) along with scooters and power wheelchairs.



Acute Rehab Equipment Inc.

Owners: Jerry Newman and Mike Daniels

Phone: 229-244-5261

Location: 5109 Northwind Blvd.

Hours: 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.