Group Health Cooperative says it plans to cut or transfer to Seattle 27 computer-related jobs that currently are based here.


Group Health will employ about 700 in Eastern Washington and Coeur dAlene after the Spokane positions are eliminated, says Tom Susens, administrator of Group Healths Eastern Washington-North Idaho region.


The moves are related to a big computer-system upgrade the health-care provider and insurer embarked on earlier this year, Susens says. Group Health earlier said it would spend $40 million to $45 million on new technology to standardize its computer systems and allow electronic medical record keeping at all 25 of its clinics in Washington and North Idaho.


Seventeen employees here have been offered the chance to transfer to Group Healths headquarters in Seattle, Susens says.


Those people were notified of the pending transfers in August, and have until the first week of November to accept or decline the move, he says. Their positions wont be transferred until next June, he says.


Another 10 positions here, most of which provide specialized software support for a computer program that Group Health is in the process of phasing out, will be cut, he says.


Those positions will be eliminated sometime between January and June next year, depending on when Group Health stops using the old computer program, he says.


We hope to find other positions within the company for those staff who may have had positions eliminated, Susens says.


After the job cuts and transfers are completed, Group Health will have 13 information-technology positions here, he says.


Group Health last year also eliminated some information-technology jobs in Seattle due to the computer upgrade, says Laura Query, a spokeswoman there. She says she doesnt know how many jobs were cut at that time, but adds that the organization doesnt anticipate that the upgrade will result in any more layoffs in Seattle or Spokane.