Donor, Jewish Home in arbitration over naming rights fight.

A doctor who says he donated millions to build a new medical complex at the Jewish Home for the Aging is in arbitration with the Reseda facility alleging officials reneged on a deal to name a building in his honor.

Dr. Sol Jay Hazan says he agreed in 2003 to contribute $5 million towards the construction of a five-story acute care center with the understanding that he would receive naming rights for a portion of the structure.

But as construction started and after he gave the first $1 million, Hazan said, he was shocked to find the structure at Tampa Avenue and Sherman Way would be named after another philanthropist, Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer.

The 249-bed building opened in October. Arbitration started late last year.

Hazan's lawyer, Richard S. Conn, would not talk about specifics of the negotiations but said the case focuses on who was promised what and when.

"A building was to be named after (Hazan's) family and another donor was promised naming rights for the same building," Conn said. "There's been a dispute over what naming rights Hazan has."

Executives for the Jewish Home did not return calls seeking comment about the arbitration. Bonnie Polishuk, a spokeswoman for the home, refused to elaborate on Hazan's allegations. "It's the home's policy not to discuss pending arbitration," she said.

Hazan, 82, said the idea to give money to the Jewish Home was originally born out of a desire to honor his late parents.

"My mom and I used to go and visit old people there," he said. "The commitment was made to memorialize my parents and my dead brother."

Hazan has been an active and sought-after donor since he retired to Las Vegas a few years ago following a career as a psychologist in Encinitas and director of research for Hoffman LaRoche and later Ciba-Geigy Corp.

Last year, he created the Sol J. Hazan Scholarship Fund at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, where he graduated in 1955, and has a similar scholarship at the Medical College of Georgia.

He said he agreed to give $1 million upfront and an additional $4 million upon his death. But after the home reversed course, he said, Hazan went to the board and threatened legal action, which eventually led to mediation and an agreement.

However, "there has been further disagreement over the settlement" and how the terms were implemented, said Conn, who would not offer further specifics. He said the case now comes down to the first agreement.

"Miss Eisenberg-Keefer has apparently been promised naming rights as a whole," be said. "The question is whether that gives her the right to each building, and if so how prominent."

For now, the building remains unnamed. Hazan said the arbitration would determine who has the naming rights, although he's not sure he wants them anymore. He's seeking his $1 million, plus damages, he said.

"Whatever happens with the judge, I will never have my name at the Jewish Home," he said, adding later, "I think they broke their promise. And it's cost me a fortune."

BY CHRIS COATES

Staff Reporter