Cardinal Health to cut 1,300 jobs, spin off business

Cardinal Health is set to lay off 1,300 employees in its clinical and medical products unit over the next six months. The company said that it was making the cuts largely in response to a dramatic slowdown in hospital purchases. The cuts will save Cardinal about $110 million over the next two years, according to the company.

Roughly 800 positions will be cut and another 500 will be eliminated via attrition, the company said in a statement. While the company has offices in many parts of the country, the hardest hit by the layoffs will be San Diego, which will lose 200 positions.

Cardinal says that it plans to spin off its clinical and medical products unit into a company called CareFusion this summer that will employ 15,900 workers and generate of close to $4 billion a year.

To learn more:
- read the Columbus Dispatch story