Care President Resigns; Firm Posts ’86 Loss

On the same day that it formally disclosed a net loss of nearly $10 million for 1986, ailing Care Enterprises said Wednesday that Boyd W. Hendrickson, its president and chief operating officer since 1985, will resign to form his own nursing home company.

Hendrickson said he will remain on the payroll of the Laguna Hills-based nursing home operator until July 1 to assist in negotiations aimed at refinancing Care’s $36 million of bank debt--$14.2 million of which is due on June 30.

There are no immediate plans to replace Hendrickson, whose duties will be assumed by Lee R. Bangerter, Care’s chairman and CEO.

In documents filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Care reported a $9.97-million net loss for 1986, compared to a $3.6-million net profit reported for 1985. Care also said that it took a nearly $7.4-million reserve for possible litigation costs in a suit it filed against the owners of six Ohio nursing homes operated by Americare Inc., which Care acquired in 1985.

The dispute centers on Care’s efforts to recover what it says are excess cash advances paid to the owners of the facilities.

Hendrickson, who joined Care 11 years ago as director of operations, said his decision has nothing to do with the firm’s deteriorating financial condition or the bitter feud among members of the family that owns most of the company.

That battle pits Chairman Lee Bangerter and his twin brother, Dee R. Bangerter, a Care director, against their half brother and company co-founder, Ted D. Nelson.

Nelson, who resigned as a director last year in protest of a Delaware reincorporation plan that he charged was unfair to minority shareholders, has enlisted the aid of Dee Bangerter’s estranged wife in his campaign to regain his lost seat on the board.

Despite the internecine warfare raging about him, Hendrickson said Wednesday that he has managed to remain on friendly terms with all the combatants.

“I’ve been in an unusual position, because I’m friends with all of them. It’s not been easy,” Hendrickson said, adding that, “Ted understands that when we see each other, that I work for Care.”