Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. has taken the reins of senior Web site Senior.com and laid off 18 of its 20 workers.
Last June, PacificCare and Compaq Computer Corp. helped launch the Irvine-based site by providing $11 million in funding. The two companies also pledged an extra $8 million if Senior.com hit sales milestones.
Now PacifiCare has bought out Compaq’s Senior.com stake and taken over the Web site’s Irvine offices and operations, according to Jeff Dailey, vice president of PacifiCare’s Accelerated Development Center.
Buyout details were not disclosed, but Dailey said Compaq was a minority stakeholder in Senior.com. The computer maker gave discounts to seniors via the Web site, among other services. The dot-com, which has yet to turn a profit, was billed as an online senior community offering chat rooms, news and access to insurance providers and health companies.
That direction, however, was not what PacifiCare had in mind for Senior.com, said Dailey, who has built sites for PacifiCare for the past six years. PacifiCare’s new chief executive, Howard Phanstiel, brought a “new vision” to the company, including to its online operations, he said.
“We basically want to use this as a senior services site for PacifiCare and Secure Horizons,” Dailey said.
PacifiCare is still ironing out what direction to take Senior.com,whether it will be a portal, community or information center. But Dailey said he plans to take his experience building sites for PacifiCare and Secure Horizons and apply it to Senior.com.
“The advantage that Senior.com will have over competitors is you’re dealing with a Fortune 500 company that owns it,” Dailey said. “If we feel there’s a level that we can take it to, I don’t have to go to VCs for funding. It’s a real plus.” n
