Score a victory for the employees of a former surgery center who allegedly suffered respiratory illnesses due to mold problems stemming from the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and other areas of the facility. Associated Physicians & Surgeons of Terre Haute, Ind., and the construction and architectural firms involved in the building of the former Wabash Valley Surgery and Eye Center have agreed to pay an "upper six figure" settlement to end a personal injury lawsuit filed by employees of the ASC, according to the plantiffs??? attorney.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2002 and was settled in mediation last month, with the 13 remaining plaintiffs receiving varied payments from AP&S, construction firm CDI Inc., and architectural firm Artekna Design, the Terre Haute Tribune-Star reports. Attorney Christopher Gambill, who represented 11 of the plaintiffs, told the paper Union Hospital helped facilitate the settlement by agreeing to "waive hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance liens" with AP&S.

Meanwhile, Pat Board, chief executive officer of AP&S Clinic, says "the building has been completely remediated of any mold concerns" and is "functioning 100 percent as it should."

—Irene Tsikitas