AMAC American Medical Alert Corp. (MM)

American Medical Alert Corp. (NASDAQ: AMAC), a provider of healthcare communication services and advanced telehealth monitoring technologies, today announced that its board of directors has adopted a new compensation plan for its non-employee directors. Under the new plan, each non-employee director will receive quarterly stock grants, in lieu of cash payments which existed under the prior plan. All non-employee directors will receive common stock ranging in value from $15,000 up to $24,000 per year, depending on the number of committee memberships, to be granted for each quarter of service, based on the closing price of the stock at the end of the relevant quarter. In addition, in place of a grant of an option to purchase 10,000 shares, which was granted each year upon election at the annual meeting of shareholders, each non-employee director will receive such number of shares of common stock equal to the value of an option to purchase 10,000 shares in accordance with FASB 123R, to be granted upon election at the annual meeting of shareholders based on the closing price of AMAC's stock on such date. All shares granted under the program will be subject to a one-year contractual lock-up from the date of their grant. Howard M. Siegel, chairman of the board, commented on behalf of the board of directors, "The board of directors believes the new plan more closely aligns the non-employee directors' interests with those of the shareholders and is indicative of the independent members' commitment to AMAC's success. In addition, by foregoing the annual stock option grant, the number of shares that potentially would be issued is reduced, thus decreasing the dilutive effect of such awards." About American Medical Alert Corp. AMAC is a healthcare communications company dedicated to the provision of support services to the healthcare community. AMAC's product and service portfolio includes Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) and emergency response monitoring, electronic medication reminder devices, disease management monitoring appliances and healthcare communication solutions services. AMAC operates eight communication centers under local trade names: HLINK OnCall, Long Island City, NY, North Shore TAS, Port Jefferson, NY, Live Message America, Audubon, NJ, ACT Teleservice, Newington, CT and Springfield, MA, MD OnCall, Cranston RI and Capitol Medical Bureau Rockville, MD, American MediConnect and Phone Screen Chicago, IL to support the delivery of high quality, healthcare communications.