Telehealth provider Lunae lands at Innovation Campus
Published 8:00 am Tuesday, July 25, 2023
It’s already home to technology-heavy companies focused on metals manufacturing, video production and workforce development.
Now the Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus on Nashville Road is entering the growing field of providing telehealth behavioral health services.
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Texas-based Oria Health announced last week that its Lunae LLC subsidiary is establishing its corporate headquarters in a 1,200-square-foot space in the Innovation Campus, aiming to employ a core staff of 17 people serving more than 50 providers of mental health services.
Amanda Havard, Lunae CEO and co-founder, said the company grew out of the growth of telehealth experienced by Oria Health since its launch in 2021.
“The need (for behavioral health services) itself has exploded since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Havard said.
That explosion led Oria to look for a location for Lunae, its management service organization, and Havard said the Innovation Campus at Nashville Road and Campbell Lane stood out as a great fit.
“So many things converged to bring us here,” Havard said. “We had to try hard to find the right environment.
“It just seems that what (Innovation Campus CEO Buddy) Steen has brought together is unique – people investing in a collaborative innovation ecosystem.”
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Lunae’s business model is itself innovative, leveraging the latest technology to provide mental health services that can reach beyond geographical boundaries.
That makes Lunae a good fit for the Innovation Campus, according to Steen.
“Oria Health and Lunae are collaborative thought leaders,” Steen said in a news release. “That makes them perfect additions to our entrepreneurial ecosystem and to the community of co-creators we have across the Innovation Campus.”
Lunae is setting up shop in the Innovation Campus, but Havard said growth may come slowly as she and her team work on getting Kentucky licensure for contracted providers and nail down contracts with insurance providers.
“We’re already starting to hire here,” Havard said, “but we want to give our existing providers the opportunity to get licensed in Kentucky.”
Lunae’s mental health providers are contractors, ranging from social workers to clinical counselors and psychiatric nurse practitioners.
“Right now, our team (of providers) is completely remote,” Havard said. “Our jobs are suited for people who need to work from home.”
Those providers will be supported out of the new Lunae headquarters in what longtime Bowling Green residents know as the “old mall.”
According to a news release, Lunae is investing $266,000 to get that space ready.
Based on that investment and its job creation, Lunae is getting incentives through the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority.
KEDFA approved in June a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program that can provide up to $200,000 in tax incentives.