BREWER – An Ellsworth-based home oxygen and medical equipment company has expanded to Brewer, a step that company officials say was taken to increase its customer base.

Coastal Med Tech recently set up shop in the back portion of the Dead River gasoline station and convenience store at 611 Wilson St. The Brewer store is its second so far.

“We’ve always wanted to move into Brewer,” general manager Paul Petros said Tuesday. “Basically, we wanted to expand our business.” According to Petros, the company now has a work force of nearly 20 employees, 12 of whom work out of the Ellsworth store and another seven assigned to the Brewer location.

In addition to respiratory therapy services and the sale and rental of oxygen and related equipment, the company carries durable medical equipment for homebound patients living within about a 100-mile radius of Brewer and Ellsworth. The company’s merchandise ranges from wheelchairs, hospital beds and crutches to such general supplies as fitted sheets, bedpans, surgical gloves and sponges.

“We’re doing as much as we can to increase our referrals,” added Brenda Lovley, one of three respiratory therapists assigned to Coastal Med Tech’s Brewer site. She said the company is one of the few of its kind in the region that is family-owned and locally owned. She said the company’s strength lies in customer service, which includes among other things regular contact with patients and equipment checks.

“That is our forte,” Lovley said. She said the company’s staff members often serve as liaison between patients and their physicians and insurance companies.

Coastal Med Tech, is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at both locations, has respiratory therapists on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The telephone number for the new Brewer site is 989-3053 or toll-free, (866) 989-3053.