CARDINAL TO CUT LOCAL STAFF MAJOR OPERATIONS WILL BE MOVED TO OHIO.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc. will move some employees east and consolidate its remaining operations in Woodland Hills as part of a broader plan to focus more attention east of the Mississippi, the company confirmed Thursday.

Cardinal will move its human resource, information technology and finance functions to the company's Dublin, Ohio, headquarters in the next 12 to 15 months. Employees who hold sales, marketing and quality, and regulatory affairs positions will remain in Woodland Hills. Severance packages and 90 days' notice will be offered to those employees who do not relocate.

``This enables us to service our customers much more effectively,'' said Lisa Niquette, a spokeswoman at the company's Ohio headquarters.

The move comes just eight months after Cardinal Health's $770 million acquisition of Syncor, the nuclear pharmaceutical company that formerly occupied Cardinal's Woodland Hills location. Niquette said the company can not say yet how many employees will be affected out of the 250 people who currently work there.

``This doesn't surprise me. It's part of the overall transaction to consolidate overhead expenses,'' said David Francis, analyst with Jefferies & Co. in Nashville. ``These things are not out of the ordinary. They are expected.''

Not so for employees who reside in Woodland Hills. The mood was somber outside Cardinal's Woodland Hills building as many workers began to question their next move. Employees would not comment publicly about their feelings.

Despite the employees' sentiments, analyst say the Syncor acquisition has been a boon for Cardinal.

``It's been a terrific acquisition for the company, placing Cardinal as a leader in the nuclear pharmacy arena,'' Francis said. ``Cardinal has done a good job integrating Syncor into the company's overall operations.''

Cardinal is the largest wholesaler of pharmaceuticals, surgical and hospital supplies and other specialty pharmaceutical products in the U.S. It currently employs well over 2,000 people at its corporate headquarters in Dublin. But that still represents a small portion of the 49,000 people Cardinal employs on five continents.

Cardinal's purchase of Syncor hit an impasse almost a year ago after Syncor payments to government officials in Asia were questioned. As part of due diligence before an acquisition, Cardinal Health scoured Syncor's books to look for signs of malfeasance. The company found improper payments made on behalf of Syncor to employees of state-owned health care facilities in Taiwan. Totaling about $500,000, the payments were in direct violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

``But the acquisition has proceeded as planned,'' said John Kreger, analyst with William Blair & Co. in Chicago. ``Syncor was really a small company compared with Cardinal, not really big enough to even move the needle there.''

Cardinal shares rose 39 cents to close at 69 cents Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. The company recently declared a quarterly dividend.

``They are performing reasonably well,'' Kreger said, ``even though they have reduced their longer-term goals two times this year.''

Evan Pondel, [phone]

evan.pondel(at)dailynews.com