Low Occupancy Rates Force Closure of CareUnit in Orange

Comprehensive Care Corp., the once highly profitable chain of alcohol and drug treatment centers that has fallen on hard times, has closed a 103-bed hospital in Orange because of low occupancy rates.

The closing of CareUnit Hospital of Orange last month follows the sale of CompCare’s psychiatric hospital in Brea last year to Community Psychiatric Centers, a Laguna Hills-based psychiatric hospital chain.

CompCare moved its corporate headquarters from Irvine to St. Louis in 1989. It has one facility remaining in Orange County, the 70-bed Starting Point unit in Orange.

David Langness, a former spokesman for CompCare, recalled that CareUnit Hospital of Orange was “the place where CompCare developed and finely honed its substance-abuse programs. In its heyday, in the early 1980s, it had long waiting lists and was filled with celebrities and athletes seeking treatment.”

Donald Simpson, CompCare’s chief operating officer, said the patient census at CareUnit has suffered in recent years from a push by the insurance industry to control rising medical costs by encouraging more outpatient treatment rather than hospitalization.

He said that before CareUnit closed, its occupancy rate had declined to about 30%, and Starting Point was doing only slightly better. A decision was made, he said, to consolidate operations at Starting Point, which offers outpatient services in addition to hospital treatment.