Cincinnati officials want to join mediation talks on the future of University Hospital and some City Council members believe it is considering a lawsuit to protect its interests.

City officials say a 2003 legal settlement obligates the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati to provide safety net services to urban residents and medical residents to city health clinics. The alliance includes University, Fort Hamilton and Jewish hospitals, the Drake Center and West Chester Medical Center.

When Jewish Hospital completes its $180 million sale to Mercy Health Partners March 1, the Health Alliance is likely to dissolve. Supporters say that will isolate University Hospital and put its safety net and medical care missions at risk.

City Solicitor John Curp said “secret negotiations” earlier this week with officials of the two hospitals aren’t advancing the city’s interests in the high-stakes hospital showdown.

“It should be clear that the Health Alliance has contractual obligations to the city and enforcement of those is my main concern,” Curp said. “Failure to consider our legal interests will probably undermine the outcome of those meetings.”

Lawyers for the Health Alliance hospitals met Monday and Tuesday, with neither side reporting significant progress. Jewish and Mercy have insisted they will close their deal March 1.

A lawsuit by either the city or the University of Cincinnati, which represents University Hospital, would bring the conflict out into the open and potentially prolong any resolution, much as it did during a three-year legal battle when Christ and St. Luke hospitals tried to withdraw from the Health Alliance.

City Council members haggled over a potential lawsuit Tuesday, with some apparently urging a lawsuit and others openly opposing it. Curp would not comment on whether he planned a lawsuit.

“We have no business getting involved in this private affair,” Council member Leslie Ghiz said.

In a letter last week to mediator Niki Schwartz, Curp outlined the city’s demands, including:

Operating University Hospital to provide indigent care to Cincinnatians.

Funding the Center for Closing the Health Gap.

Including the Cincinnati Board of Health in a new primary-care network.

Maintaining medical residents in city health clinics.

“Our appeal is to be sure that University Hospital and members of the Health Alliance do not lose sight of their moral obligation to provide access to health care for all of our community,” Curp wrote in the Jan. 6 letter.

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The battle over the breakup of what once was the region’s biggest hospital system moves into public view this week.

After months of boardroom battles that resulted in Jewish Hospital being sold to Mercy Health Partners, Cincinnati City Council will start a series of public hearings on the deal’s impact on University Hospital, which is a partner in the same system with Jewish Hospital and essentially is being left to survive on its own.

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