Health-monitoring company might move to Lexington
A Texas-based health-monitoring company is considering moving its headquarters to Lexington.
TeleHealth Holdings of San Antonio was given preliminary approval for $800,000 in state tax incentives Thursday by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority to encourage the move.
"We're very high on Lexington," said TeleHealth CEO Jerome Hahn. "We still have to keep our options open, but, at this point, I would say we're cautiously optimistic."
A TeleHealth move to Lexington would be expected to create 35 jobs within five years paying an average hourly wage of $41, including benefits.
Among the company's brands are the MedSignals smart pillbox that sends alerts to people about a loved one's medications.
"Say your grandmother is living in Florida," Hahn said. "You're concerned and need the peace of mind because she's living alone by herself. The device makes it not only possible to alert her to take the pills but also alerts you when she's taken her medications.
"If she fails to take that critical medication, you can get a text message or voice message or email indicating she's missed it."
The pillbox also works with other devices to track health measures such as glucose levels, Hahn said.
Lexington's central location makes it ideal for the company, which "does a lot of business on the East Coast, in the South and in the Midwest," Hahn said.
"The quality of life there also surprised us," he added. "We just thought the area was really wonderful and a wonderful place for the kind of research and development people we want to attract."
Mandy Lambert, spokeswoman for the state Cabinet for Economic Development, said the tax incentive approval "is a positive step."
"We look forward to continuing our partnership with Commerce Lexington and the mayor's office to assist TeleHealth as they seek to make this important decision," she said.
This story was originally published May 31, 2012 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Health-monitoring company might move to Lexington ."