Heavy lifting: company supplies equipment for obese patients.

As goes the waist line of America, so goes the bottom line of Dynamic Medical Systems Inc.

The Dominguez Hills-based company has been supplying nursing homes and hospitals from California to Colorado with everything from wheelchairs and gurneys to respirators and wound management equipment since 1999.

But it wasn't until a year and a half ago that founder Dave Robertson realized the huge growth potential lurking within his business, courtesy of Americans' growing girth.

"Just as the size of French fries has increased over the years, the size of the American hospital and nursing home room should grow too," he said.

The epiphany hit him after a trip to Seattle where he realized there was a far different hospital landscape in the Northwest than in Southern California--specifically far more obese patients. "That's when we realized the potential," he said.

Robertson now markets oversized patient lifts, something like car-engine lifts, which can either be ceiling mounted or portable and cost anywhere from $1,200 to about $8,000.

He also sells especially wide gurneys, which can double as operating tables and have larger, stronger wheels. Of course, bigger wheelchairs and even sturdier walkers are in his inventory.

Robertson does about 60 percent of his business in California, and the rest is spread out among half a dozen other Western states focusing primarily on the nursing home sector. But as the population of America's obese gets bigger, he sees tremendous growth potential in the hospital industry.

"As Baby Boomers age and as Americans continue to eat more and more and more, hospitals are seeing more and more of a demand for this type of equipment," he said.

Since focusing on developing this aspect of his business a year and a half ago, Robertson said sales have grown 90 percent and he predicts revenue to surpass $10 million this year.

"We still get about 95 percent of our business from patients under 250 pounds. But the numbers don't lie and this sector is growing and has only begun to expand," he said.