CAMARILLO : Merger Will Not Affect Development

Only the name is expected to change.

The merger between WellPoint Health Networks and Health Systems International, approved by the state Thursday, should have no other impact on the planned 61-acre, $180-million WellPoint development in Camarillo, officials said.

The Camarillo City Council on June 14 approved the development that includes 14 buildings from three to four stories high, a six-story parking structure and a helicopter pad between the Ventura Freeway and Adolfo Road, west of Conejo Creek.

On Wednesday, the council is expected to approve a change in location of the development’s helicopter pad. The Planning Commission on Aug. 2 approved the change that would move the pad from the southwest corner of the project to the southeast corner.

The City Council will meet at 5 p.m. in City Hall, 601 Carmen Drive.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for the end of the year, and WellPoint officials hope to consolidate their Ventura County operations and move to the new site in the first quarter of 1997, said spokesman Larry Bryant.

“We don’t expect any changes, and, at this point, the merger will have no effect on the Camarillo project,” Bryant said.

WellPoint, a subsidiary of health insurance giant Blue Cross, could ultimately employ 7,200 workers at the Camarillo site, becoming the city’s largest employer.

Plans for the merger, which is expected to create the nation’s largest publicly held managed care company, were announced in April, prior to final approval of the WellPoint development in Camarillo.