Construction activity is about to ramp up at Wabash General Hospital after the USDA approved financing for the $14.6 million expansion project. Hospital officials have been awaiting final approval at the federal level of the financing that will enable the project to begin. President/CEO Karissa Turner has said the financing delay could possibly aid the project as the contractor has indicated difficulties in obtaining construction materials because of a COVID-caused backlog. Prep work started this week on the construction site at 13th and College Drive with construction fencing and a construction trailer being moved in sometime in the next couple of weeks. Hospital officials advise motorists to drive with caution in the construction area as heavy equipment will be going in and out of the 13th Street area near the hospital. The centerpiece of the project is a two-story, 32,000 square foot medical office building that consolidates several physician offices into one building adjacent to the hospital.