We will still have to wait for the delivery of the new CHU. Initially planned for the 1st quarter of 2025…the handover of the keys on the Belle Plaine site has been postponed. The health crisis had already delayed the construction site…this new postponement once again worries the unions
The delivery of the new University Hospital Center (CHU) of Guadeloupe, located in Belle-Plaine aux Abymes, is once again delayed. While management affirms that full delivery of the buildings will be completed by the end of April 2025, the unions are much more cautious, anticipating effective commissioning rather at the end of the year.
Several delays
Initially scheduled for the end of 2023, delivery of this ambitious project – one of the largest hospital projects in Europe with its 80,000 m² – has already experienced several postponements. First slowed down by the health crisis, the project then experienced coordination difficulties between the different trades and problems linked to the electrical infrastructure.
In July 2024, Éric Guyader, general director of the CHU, announced an additional delay and a reception of the first patients at the start of 2025.
It sets as a new objective the end of the work by March 31, 2025 for most buildings, and by April 30 for the last ones.
We are in the process of finalizing… This is the home stretch. The objective is to have premises by April 30 that can be quickly used by our services.
Eric Guyader, general director of the Guadeloupe University Hospital
Management now hopes to welcome the first patients by the middle of the year.
Unions, between skepticism and denunciation
For the Union of Health Workers (UTS-UGTG), this timetable remains unrealistic. According to the union, the numerous challenges still to be overcome make it unlikely that it will begin operations before the end of 2025. In addition to the poor workmanship denounced on certain works, the union points to another major problem: the lack of preparation of the staff.
The unions are also concerned about the vagueness surrounding the transfer of teams, fearing that it will mask a hidden social plan.
