Comprehensive Behavioral Care Study Suggests Link Between Military Exercises, Poor Health Status on Puerto Rican Island of Vieques.

TAMPA, Fla.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 6, 1999--

Comprehensive Behavioral Care, Inc. (CompCare), a wholly owned subsidiary of Comprehensive Care Corporation (OTC BB:CHCR), today released preliminary study results showing that the physical and mental health status of residents of Vieques is significantly worse than that of other Puerto Ricans and U.S. citizens.

Vieques, a small island off Puerto Rico's coast, has for the last 50 years served as the controversial site of U.S. military training and live-fire exercises.

The CompCare study findings were outlined by Puerto Rican government officials at a briefing in Washington, D.C., this morning for members of a special commission investigating the impact of the military training on the people and ecology of Vieques. Longstanding concern about the exercises has been heightened recently by a series of highly publicized accidents. Following the death of a Puerto Rican civilian during a bombing accident in April, the U.S. Navy suspended the exercises pending an investigation of the accident.

In June, CompCare investigators visited Vieques and gathered detailed information on the physical and mental health status of a representative sample of island residents. Although previous studies found high rates of mortality from cancer and other diseases on Vieques, no overall health profile existed for the island's inhabitants. The CompCare study found lower physical and mental health status for Vieques residents compared to other Puerto Ricans and U.S. residents on the mainland in virtually all areas studied: overall health, ability to perform physical activities, ability to perform physical activities at work and at home, ability to lead pain-free lives, social functioning, perception of general health, and emotional and intellectual status. Nearly one-third of those surveyed said they would have benefited from mental health services during the past year.

"The study data indicate that significant physical and mental health problems exist among the people of Vieques," according to Silma Quinones, Ph.D., CompCare's Vice President for Regional Operations in Puerto Rico. "Although the study results do not directly link these problems to military activities on the island, they clearly indicate a need for more detailed studies to determine the scope and impact of the military training on the health and well being of the island's population."

"As an independent company and a leader in managed mental health care in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, CompCare is pleased to be able to assist the Puerto Rico Department of Health in this impartial, objective analysis of the health status of U.S. citizens of Vieques," Quinones added.

Comprehensive Behavioral Care, which has operated in Puerto Rico since 1995, is widely credited with providing hundreds of thousands of island residents with access to comprehensive, cost-effective mental health and substance services under the government's Reforma program. The company's ability to respond quickly to Puerto Ricans' health needs was demonstrated last summer in the aftermath of Hurricane Georges, when CompCare deployed teams of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers to provide direct services to hurricane survivors in remote villages throughout the island.

Comprehensive Behavioral Care, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, administers and operates mental health, substance abuse, and employee assistance programs for governmental agencies and managed care companies throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The company has more than 900,000 members and a network of approximately 5,700 behavioral health practitioners.