Sutter Health eliminates 121 IT positions in Rancho Cordova

Sutter Health will eliminate 121 information technology positions in Rancho Cordova on July 17, as the Sacramento-based health system continues to grapple with the recession.

The layoffs were announced Monday to give employees time to find new jobs while they continue to collect pay. Sutter also will provide severance, outplacement services and payment for health care premiums during the severance period.

???These are dedicated and talented professionals who have provided tremendous value to our organization,??? health chief information officer Jon Manis said in a news release. ???Unfortunately, these staffing changes are necessary. We have a higher responsibility now more than ever to our patients who pay for health care to be good stewards and to keep our services affordable.???

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Manis warned employees in an April 26 e-mail staffing cuts were coming due to a $4 million hole in the health system???s information technology budget.

An unspecified number of the positions eliminated support Sutter???s electronic health record. The health system recently launched its first hospital-based electronic health record in Burlingame, but put other hospital-based installations on hold until at least 2010.

Sutter plans to accelerate roll-out to doctors, where about 80 percent of health care services are delivered. Sutter and its 26 affiliated hospitals and physician organizations continue to employ about 1,500 information services staff in Sacramento and other Northern California communities, including 750 in Rancho Cordova.