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MARKETS: ECS TO TARGET CHEMICAL FIRMS FOR POLLUTION INSURANCE

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EXTON, Pa.-ECS Underwriting Inc. has formed a new business unit to meet the special insurance needs of the chemical industry, especially in the area of pollution liability.

Daniel Hagan, manager of the new unit, said it will offer chemical manufacturers and distributors comprehensive insurance coverage without the typical pollution exclusion of the standard insurance policy.

Exton, Pa.-based ECS's chemical facilities unit will develop specific insurance programs to meet the needs of a variety of businesses in the chemical industry, including chemical warehouses, drumming and repacking facilities, chemical manufacturers and mixing and blending facilities.

Key coverages available through the unit include commercial automobile liability and physical damage, general liability including products and pollution, workers compensation, umbrella liability, pollution and remediation legal liability and pollution and inland marine.

For more information, call 800-327-1414.

Group buying power

HARTFORD, Conn.-The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co. has formed an affinity services group program to provide members of common interest groups, such as associations, with industry-specific coverages and group purchasing power.

Coverage for equipment repair or replacement costs and loss of income due to interruption of business or services because of the breakdown of covered equipment is available.

The affinity services group is made up of a team of professionals concentrating specifically on group programs.

For more information contact Don Hartford, vp in the affinity services group, at 800-345-1122.

Investment service

NEW YORK-Reinsurance intermediary and financial consultant Gill & Roeser Inc. has formed a panel of insurance industry investors to small stock and mutual insurance companies, agents

and brokers and other service providers to the insurance industry.

The move is aimed at meeting the needs of small to midsize insurance industry entities with capital needs of $1 million to $10 million. It also is intended to facilitate other relationships between the investment recipients and the investors-insurance and reinsurance companies-that can provide capacity and other needed services.

For more information contact, Steve Bolland, senior vp at Gill & Roeser in New York at 212-972-4880.

Benefits practice

CHICAGO-Near North Insurance Brokerage Inc. has established a voluntary benefits practice with primary emphasis on payroll deduction life insurance plans for companies with 100 or more employees.

Tom Porter has joined Near North as vp of the new practice and is based in Chicago.

For more information, contact Mr. Porter at 312-280-5551.

M&A funding

BOSTON-Harborside Healthcare Corp. has arranged a three-year, $25 million revolving credit facility with Chase Manhattan Bank to fund working capital requirements associated with the company's ongoing acquisition program.

The credit facility is collateralized by accounts receivable as well as certain other assets.

In 1996, Boston-based Harborside increased its bed capacity by about 50%, or more than 1,200 beds through acquisitions. Already this year, the long-term care, subacute care and specialty medical service provider has acquired a 163-bed facility in Baltimore and has announced the pending acquisition of four facilities with 410 beds total in the Boston area.

Harborside officials indicated they plan to bring other banks into the revolving credit facility to increase the amount of capital available to the company.

Sales director

LYNBROOK, N.Y.-Home health care agency All Metro Health Care/Plaza Nurses Agency has hired Elaine Winkler, a disability management specialist and certified case manager, as its new sales director to lead the company's entry into the commercial insurance market.

Among other things, Ms. Winkler is initiating a workers compensation review for self-insured companies, municipalities and insurance agencies to analyze long-term active cases for unnecessary medical care claims that could be driving up costs. Registered nurses will conduct home assessments of claimants' medical treatment.

Companies hiring Lynbrook, N.Y.-based All Metro as their exclusive home-care provider also will receive case management and counseling services.

All Metro currently has 17 offices in six states.

For more information, call 516-887-1200.

Provider network

BRENTWOOD, Tenn.-Workers compensation provider network manager FOCUS Healthcare Management Inc. rolled out its 20,000-plus provider network for New York effective May 1.

The New York contract brings the total network for Brentwood, Tenn.,-based FOCUS to 177,000 nationwide, more than double the number of providers in the company's network a year ago.

In addition to the providers, the New York network includes 101 hospitals, with providers and hospitals covering close to 70% of the state with concentration in New York City and Long Island, the Hudson Valley, the Schenectady/Albany area, Syracuse and Buffalo.

FOCUS is an independently operated subsidiary of Boston-based CRA Managed Care.

For more information call 615-377-9936.

Plan manager sold

CHESTERFIELD, Mo.-Managed care consulting and administration firm CODA Inc. has acquired Atlanta-based HealthPlan Management Services Inc. from John Hancock Financial Services Inc.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1988, CODA specializes in assisting employers with evaluating and administering their managed health care plans.

HPMS, which provides the same services, was founded in 1986.

As a result of the transaction, CODA will have a staff of more than 130 employees and will serve more than 80 national employers and manage more than 1,000 health plans.

Intermediary office

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.-Specialty reinsurance brokerage firm Jardine Sayer & Co. has opened offices in San Francisco.

William A. Klepp, vp, will oversee the Lawrenceville, N.J.-based company's West Coast operations. The new offices are at 180 Montgomery St., 5th Floor, San Francisco, Calif. 94104.

The telephone number is 415-986-1310, and the fax number is 415-986-1330.

Name changes

Workers compensation managed care provider CompCare Inc. has changed its name to CompFirst Inc. Based in Atlanta, CompFirst serves the Georgia market. For more information, call 770-984-9783.

California Dental Health Plan, the managed dental and vision care subsidiary of PacifiCare Health Systems, has been renamed PacifiCare Dental. Founded in 1972, the Tustin, Calif.-based company was acquired by PacifiCare in 1993. The largest managed dental plan in California, PacifiCare Dental plans expansion into Oregon, Washington and Texas this year. For more information, call 800-622-6388.

New offices

Claims adjuster Maxson Young Associates Inc. has relocated its Miami office to 2600 Douglas Road, Suite 906, Coral Gables, Fla., 33134-6134. The telephone number is 305-443-9900, and the fax number is 305-443-9908. Michael P. Watters has moved from the company's New York office to be branch manager of the Miami office.

Excess and surplus lines broker, program administrator and managing general agent Sherwood Insurance Services has established a Seattle office through its acquisition of health care broker PBA Inc. Robert D. Kelley, PBA's founder, has become a senior vp of Sherwood and manager of the Seattle office. The new office is located at 2800 The Columbia Center, Seattle, Wash., 98104. The telephone number is 206-340-8499, and the fax number is 206-382-1409.

Management-marketing organization Insurance Marketing Associates has relocated to 35 Hancock St., Laguna Niguel, Calif., 92677-4709. The phone number is 714-487-1693, and the fax number is 714-487-1695.

Professional Coverage Managers Inc., PCM Intermediaries Ltd., PCM Excess Ltd. and Special Risk Portfolios Inc. have relocated to 5 Hanover Square, 3rd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10004-2614. The telephone number is 212-344-8200, and the fax number is 212-344-5537.

Risk Capital Reinsurance Co. and its parent, Risk Capital Holdings Inc., have moved to new offices in Greenwich, Conn. Both companies now are at 20 Horseneck Lane, 2nd Floor, Greenwich, Conn. 06380. The telephone number is 203-862-4300.