Irvine’s CompCare Begins Franchising Its Chemical-Dependency Services

Irvine-based Comprehensive Care Corp., one of the largest U.S. providers of services for alcohol and drug treatment, has started a program to franchise its well-known CareUnit services to hospitals throughout the country.

To date, CompCare has about 200 chemical dependency programs in 30 states. The company owns 68 facilities and manages 151 more programs under contract with hospitals. More than 50,000 patients were treated in CareUnit programs in the fiscal year ending May 31.

Through the proposed franchise program, hospitals would pay an initial franchise fee of $20,000 to $100,000, depending on the size of the program, plus an ongoing fee for services provided.

A CareUnit franchise will permit health-care providers to use the CareUnit program and trade name in providing inpatient and outpatient adult and adolescent treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. In addition, CompCare will provide training for members of the hospital’s treatment staff and ongoing quality assurance, operational and support services.

Ken Estes, CompCare spokesman, said the company is pushing its franchises in major metropolitan areas such as Houston, Detroit, Atlanta and Cleveland and is trying to pierce the New York and Midwest markets. No franchises have been sold as yet, he said.

“We unfortunately can’t make any projections for selling franchises,” Estes said. “It’s a relatively new concept. . . . (But) we would expect this to be our major growth area in terms of number of programs operated.”