Kaiser to cut 860 IT positions

Kaiser Permanente will eliminate 860 information technology jobs over the next six months, following a $500 million strategic agreement with IBM Corp. and related changes announced Monday.

“Only one or two” — if any — jobs will be eliminated in the Sacramento region, which does not have a Kaiser data center, said Phil Fasano, Kaiser’s chief information officer.

Kaiser and IBM (NYSE: IBM) signed a seven-year agreement March 13 to work together to improve Kaiser’s information technology capabilities. The deal focuses on Kaiser data centers that manage company computers and data backups to ensure they are reliable and ready for use, Fasano said.

As a result, about 700 positions in Kaiser’s data centers will be eliminated. Some workers will be eligible for employment at IBM. Data centers are located in Silver Spring, Md. and Corona, Napa, Walnut Creek and Irvine. There are a few small centers in regional offices, too.

These jobs will be eliminated over the next six months, Fasano said.

“This is a substantial and very strategic move on behalf of the company to continue our focus as a leader in information technology,” Fasano said. The deal has been in the works for many months, he added.

In a separate but related move, Kaiser will eliminate 160 additional positions at more than 30 locations across its eight regions as part of a cost-saving effort to realign its information technology functions. Most of these employees were notified Monday.

Employees affected by the IBM deal or internal shift will receive a 60-day notice and will be eligible for severance benefits.

The 860 jobs represent about 15 percent of Kaiser’s total information technology work force of more than 6,000, Fasano said.

More than 14,000 doctors and thousands of other caregivers use Kaiser’s information technology systems on a daily basis and about 2.7 million members access their personal health records online.

Kaiser is the largest private employer in the Sacramento region, with more than 9,600 full-time-equivalent employees at three hospital campuses and several medical offices in the Sacramento region.