It’s a deal: Baton Rouge-based Amedisys has signed an agreement to acquire Associated Home Care, a Massachusetts-based private home health care company, for $28 million. According to a news release issued this morning, Amedisys will take 100% control of the company once the transaction closes on or around March 1. Associated Home Care opened in 1991 and cares for about 5,000 seniors daily throughout Massachusetts. The company generates about $40 million in revenue annually. Associated Home Care’s management team will continue to oversee the company and CEO Michael Trigilio will oversee Amedisys’ new Personal Care Division. See the full release.
A new pillbox: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has installed 29 drop boxes throughout the state for people to drop off unwanted prescription medication. The drop boxes are part of an initiative with law enforcement to try to curb the soaring use of prescription painkillers in Louisiana. “We’re hoping to dispose of 10,000 pounds of pills this year through 29 drop boxes around the state,” says Michael Tipton, president of the Blue Cross Foundation, in a prepared statement. “When you look at the research, it’s clear that safely disposing of painkillers is one of the best weapons against patterns of addiction that often start at home.”
More jobs: ExpressJet Airlines will hire eight to 10 new employees at its Baton Rouge facility, vice president for maintenance Bob Madigan announced today while in Shreveport to reveal the company’s new $400,000 expansion to its existing aircraft maintenance facility at the Shreveport Regional Airport. The Baton Rouge facility currently employs about 60 people. In a news release touting the Shreveport project, Gov. John Bel Edwards says the expansion is expected to create 35 direct jobs and 36 indirect jobs. Louisiana Economic Development is offering the company its FastStart workforce development program and the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemptions programs. See the full release.
