Board Post Declined

Joseph F. Prevratil has chosen not to serve on PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.’s board after state regulators cited conflicts with his position as head of a nonprofit foundation.

Prevratil, 59, is a former board member of FHP International Corp., which PacifiCare purchased last week, and had been selected to join PacifiCare’s board. He is also president and a board member of a nonprofit foundation spun off years ago by FHP.

When the state last week approved the buyout, it stipulated that Prevratil could not serve as a foundation executive and PacifiCare director. Prevratil, who also oversees the Queen Mary tourist attraction in Long Beach, has decided to stick with the Archstone Foundation, where he has been a board member for 10 years and chief executive for about a year and a half.

FHP’s founder, Robert Gumbiner, who was ousted as the company’s chairman in 1995, recently asked the state to investigate close ties between FHP and the foundation, which funds research and sponsors community seminars on care for the aged. Gumbiner, a major contributor to the Queen Mary, became embittered when Prevratil sided with other board members in removing him.