Panel to Study Plan for Settling Hospital Suit

Los Angeles County would net $250,000 under a proposed settlement that would end years of litigation over construction delays at Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar.

The complicated out-of-court settlement with the project’s architect, The Luckman Partnership Inc., is scheduled for review by the Los Angeles County Claims Board on Wednesday.

Opening of the hospital--rebuilt after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake--was delayed by nearly a year because of mechanical and design problems, causing the county to file a $5.1-million lawsuit in 1986 against the companies involved in designing the structure.

The largest portion of the suit was settled in the county’s favor in November, 1990, for $3 million. But The Luckman Partnership refused to participate in the settlement and the remainder of the case proceeded toward trial.

In a settlement reviewed by a judge familiar with the case, the architect will pay $375,000 to the county in return for its withdrawal of a lawsuit that alleges the architect improperly designed the hospital’s exhaust system. But the county also will pay the architect $125,000 to withdraw cross-claims filed against the county that allege payments were wrongfully withheld and that the county never paid for extra services it requested.

The settlement eventually must be reviewed by the Board of Supervisors. County officials have estimated that it cost $4.8 million to correct problems created by the delays and design errors.