A Wichita businessman has found a health care niche that has turned into a profitable venture — one that he expects to land in Hays in the coming months.

Kevin Kunz is co-owner of Sleeptopia Inc., which specializes in in-home sleep apnea testing.

“Home sleep testing’s been around for a while,” he said. “However, people just weren’t aware of it.”

Kunz said the home testing is a benefit for a variety of reasons. Compared to a laboratory test, the cost is a third to a fifth of the price, depending upon insurance coverage.

But taking the test at home rather than a lab setting simply makes more sense to Kunz.

“If you’ve been married for 30 years … now you’re in a foreign setting, your spouse can’t sleep with you, all the wires. … How do you get an accurate study?” he said. “Why would we want to change the routine.”

Kunz, who has locations in Wichita and Independence, said a future Hays location would serve the entire region.

“We deliver to the patient’s home,” he said. “Even though we’ll be in Hays, we’ll be all around that area.”

While he has yet to decide upon a specific site for a Hays storefront, he said he expects to eventually hire two or three people, including a nurse.

Kunz said the Hays location is projected to be open within four to six months.