New hospital, new problems

CTV Montreal: Mould at CHUM It's not open, but mould is throughout the building.

The French superhospital is brand new and already there are concerns about mould.

The consortium which built the CHUM hospital handed over the keys on April 1, and now construction workers are leaking photos of mould throughout the structure.

The photos taken on the 11th floor, and in one of the parking areas show mould and water infiltration.

The union said it brought concerns over mould to the consortium and was not happy with the response.

Workers said they fear more surprises could be found, saying they were pressured to finish up by the end of March.

The consortium said considering the size and scope of the project, these are normal occurrences.

"We react very quickly when that happens. It takes, as you know, 48 hours before there is mould created," said Stephane Mailhot of Construction Santé Montreal. "It's unfortunate but it can happen. The important thing is that we fix it right away."

Mailhot said the CHUM hospital, like the Glen hospitals, will be double-checked before patients move in.

"Altogether we have more than 12,500 rooms. It's a huge hospital. It's right now in an activation period. It's meant for that to test all the systems, all the piping."

The hospital, which will include St. Luc, Notre Dame, and the Hotel Dieu hospitals, is scheduled to open to patients sometime in the fall.