Pharmaceutical provider plans to add 930 Ind. jobs

INDIANAPOLIS

A company that provides home health care services and medical equipment announced Thursday that it hopes to add more than 900 workers in the coming years by expanding its national headquarters and pharmacy operations.

Executives from Arcadia Resources Inc. joined state and local officials in the announcement, saying it would spend $3.9 million to expand its corporate operations on the north side of Indianapolis and centralize its growing DailyMed pharmaceutical service.

That service packages doses of prescription medications into individual packets so patients on numerous drugs can more easily stick to their drug regimens.

Arcadia President and CEO Marvin Richardson said the company has been "thrilled with the traction" it's seen with DailyMed. He said the service meets a demand to help reduce health care costs.

"What our product does is improve adherence to medication therapy and medication therapy is a lot less expensive than a hospital visit," Richardson said.

Arcadia now has about 500 employees in Indiana and 4,000 nationwide. The company's expansion comes three years after it moved its headquarters from Southfield, Mich., to Indianapolis.

The company says much of its hiring will be for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, account managers and sales personnel for the DailyMed service by 2013. Its plans include expanding services for insurers including Indiana-based WellPoint and Health Alliance Medical Plans.

"These are high-paying jobs requiring the kind of skills that we want to cultivate and encourage in our young people," Gov. Mitch Daniels said.

The state offered up to $13.5 million in tax credits toward the expansion, and city officials are considering an additional property tax abatement.