The Wabash General Hospital Board of Directors has taken the first step in a major construction and expansion project. The board has approved spending $300,000 on the design work that could eventually see a new wing built into the hospital in addition to other improvements and upgrades. Planning committee chairman John Evans laid out the details of the proposal that includes relocating the oncology department, moving primary care from the Chestnut Street location to the main hospital campus; along with relocating the medical records department. In place of primary care services, Evans explained that specialty clinics would occupy that Chestnut Street facility. If approved, the new wing to the hospital would be built toward 13th Street and could include a second story. Other aspects of the project could include improvements to the dietary department and additional meeting rooms. If the board undertakes the entire proposed project, the price tag could reach $13 million. Evans said the board will get a better scope of the project sometime this fall. Board chairman Rob Coleman polled the board asking if there was any opposition to spending up to $13 million and there was none.