Mediation in hospital plan

A mediation conference is set for today on whether Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills will be allowed to go ahead with its planned $143 million expansion or be forced to conduct a detailed environmental study.Daily News.

The required conference is an attempt to head off a trial after Superior Court Judge Tom McKnew rejected a request to throw out a case filed by a group of residents opposed to the expansion.

In November, the hospital's expansion plan won tentative approval from the Los Angeles City Council, paving the way for the hospital, without further study, to add more than 100 beds to the San Fernando Valley's badly stressed health-care system.

Hospital officials