The hospital lawsuit that’s been pending in the New Mexico Court of Appeals for months has finally been assigned to a panel of judges.

The case — R. Cordova v. Valencia County — was assigned to three judges on Nov. 2, according to a court of appeals official.

The judges will review the case, taking between weeks and months to reach a decision, the official said.

At a Valencia County Commission meeting in August, an attorney representing the county in the case said after its assignment to judges a decision could take between three months and a year.

Commissioners will get an update on the case during a closed session tonight.

While commissioners voted in September to work to settle the lawsuit, there’s been little activity on the part of commissioners in recent weeks toward that end.

Commissioner Georgia Otero-Kirkham recently said the county hasn’t moved forward with the settlement because it’s waiting for information from Valencia Health Commons, the local nonprofit managing the hospital project.

This page was published on November 4, 2009 at 9:14am and is filed under Hospital.