SERIES AT A GLANCE : TODAY : A Continuing Drama

The way Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar got rebuilt after the Feb. 9, 1971, quake is almost as dramatic as how it got destroyed in the first place. And another drama is unfolding over where money will be found to operate the huge glass-and-steel structure set against the San Gabriel Mountains. Built at a cost of $120 million, the hospital, when all its 350 beds are utilized, will cost $118 million a year to run.

MONDAYRelief for the Poor

Since Olive View was destroyed, the only place where the San Fernando Valley’s poor could seek treatment nearby was at a jumbled bunch of old buildings and trailers in Van Nuys. Although at first the new hospital will be able to handle only about the same number of patients, those patients will have more comfortable surroundings and the most up-to-date medical equipment.

TUESDAY

Boon or Bane for Sylmar?

The opening of Olive View hospital will signal the beginning of a new era of development in Sylmar, civic and business leaders say. The growing community of 48,000 people is preparing for the daily influx of more than 3,000 employees and patients. Most who live there are calling this progress. Some, though, including horse owners, are worried about traffic and other growth issues.