Hutcheson Medical Center executives got the chance to step outside of their white-collar job duties Wednesday and do a little demolition work.

Hospital President Charles Stewart, board Chairman Stan Porter and facilities manager Dan Poisson took turns swinging a sledge hammer into a wall of the main lobby on the hospital’s Fort Oglethorpe campus.

The ceremony marked the start of $47.5 million renovation project for the former Tri-County Hospital, which not long ago was the subject of speculation about its fiscal health as it charted multimillion-dollar losses for several years.

The face-lift is evidence the hospital’s financial outlook is much improved, officials note.

“We are taking the first delivery of materials today,” Mr. Poisson said Wednesday. “We will begin setting up scaffolding and hanging plastic for the first phase, which is the total renovation of the lower level of the main lobby.”

Mr. Stewart said he and the staff are excited to see the project, which has been several months in the planning, get under way.

Work on the lobby project, which ultimately will include the gift shop and atrium on the upper level, a new visitors area and a seating area, will be done in several phases and is expected to be complete by the end of summer.

“Planning is under way for the next portion, which includes complete renovations of patient rooms,” Mr. Stewart said. “It will be two to three years to get everything finished.”

Financing is provided by a $35.5 million tax-exempt bond and $12 million for a tax-exempt lease for a new MRI, CT scanner and equipment for a new cardiac catheterization lab and patient monitoring equipment.

Regions Bank and Morgan Keegan handled the financing arrangements, according to the news statement.

The bond issue — largest in the hospital’s history — also includes refinancing of current debt.

The Hutcheson Health Foundation has donated $516,000 toward the project, and the Hutcheson Auxiliary pledged $40,000 for furniture replacement.

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