Briefs

American Homecare Supply changes name LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. - Further cementing its relationship to industrial gas giant Air Products, American Homecare Supply (AHS) changed its name last month to Air Products Healthcare. Air Products acquired AHS in October for $165 million. Local and regional companies that are part of Air Products Healthcare will retain their original names for now, the company stated in a release. AHS now has branches stretching from New Hampshire south through West Virginia. The company also operates in Illinois. Man arrested in nurse's fatal shooting REDMOND, Wash. - Police have arrested a man in connection with the shooting death of Victoria Mardis, a nurse and intravenous specialist who worked in Apria's Seattle operation. Police arrested Jason Ray Taylor, 22, in early May. Taylor, who has no criminal record, was being held in jail on $1 million bail. Mardis, 49, was driving home from work when she pulled over near a Redmond apartment building to retrieve some patient files she'd left on the roof of her car. Residents heard a single shot but didn't see the shooting. Police quickly ruled out robbery - Mardis' purse remained on the front seat of her car - and domestic violence, saying the shooting appeared to be random. Short cuts Lincare's board of directors increased the size of the company's share repurchase program from $100 million to $225 million on June 4. As of June 4, the company had applied approximately $5 million to acquire its shares under such authorization. Repurchases will be made through open market or privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions and trading restrictions... Tempe, Ariz.-based O2 Science, a regional provider of respiratory therapy services and home healthcare products, acquired last month Respicare, based in Fife, Wash., a suburb of Seattle... A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved a reorganization plan for Integrated Health Services, Rotech Healthcare's former parent company, that gives bankers 6 to 8 cents on the dollar.