Greatbatch Inc. Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Hook is waiting for the payoff.

Since taking over as the top executive at the Clarence medical products manufacturer, Hook

has used a series of seven acquisitions to broaden Greatbatch&#8217s offerings beyond the

medical batteries that long accounted for the bulk of its sales.

Last year, it focused on integrating those new acquisitions, while consolidating five of

its facilities to reduce costs and bolster efficiency. It continued on its five-year push to

invest heavily in new products and technology, doubling the company&#8217s research and

development spending from 2005 levels.

And Greatbatch continued to move forward with its plan to become more than just a supplier

of medical components, striving to become a supplier of more complex &#8212 and profitable

&#8212 systems, like its new OptiSeal line of vascular access products. The company also

continued to invest more in research and product development, even as the recession cut into

its sales.

&#8220We&#8217ve planted the seeds. The trees are growing, but the fruit&#8217s not

there,&#8221 Hook said in an interview following Greatbatch&#8217s annual shareholders meeting

Tuesday.

But he expects those results to begin showing up soon.

&#8220We&#8217re really at just the beginning of seeing these investments realized,&#8221

Hook said. &#8220These are long-term investments. They are risky investments, especially at

the systems level.&#8221

Still, Hook said the company will start reaping the first sales from its OptiSeal products

later this year, and more systems are in the works, though their development can take three to

five years.

&#8220It will change the revenue stream of the company fundamentally,&#8221 Hook said.

And the company expects to make additional moves to consolidate its operations this year,

especially in its sagging orthopedic products business, which was hurt last year as patients

had fewer elective surgeries because of the weak economy, and physicians and hospitals cut

their inventories of orthopedic products because of the recession and uncertainty over health

care reform.

Overall, Hook said he views the health care reform package with mixed feelings. On the

positive side, Greatbatch could benefit from the new law&#8217s push to provide health

insurance to more Americans, which increases the pool of potential customers. On the downside,

the law includes a new 2.3 percent tax on medical devices, which will drive up the cost of

Greatbatch products.

&#8220Health care reform is going to put a governor on health care technologies,&#8221 Hook

said. Medical care &#8220is going to be managed tighter.&#8221

For now, though,Hook and other Greatbatch executives are waiting for the payoff from the

company&#8217s cost-cutting and research investments. Profits slid by 18 percent in the first

quarter, while sales were off by 14 percent, but Hook said those results were an improvement

from the fourth quarter, and he predicted that the upward trend would continue throughout the

year.

&#8220We&#8217re behind in our plan, but we&#8217re catching up very rapidly,&#8221 he

said. &#8220We&#8217re shaking off the effects of the recession.&#8221

The company&#8217s stock closed at $22.45 Tuesday, down 3 cents.