Administrators at Hutcheson Medical Center are taking bids and working with architects in preparation for the largest upgrade of the hospital’s buildings and equipment in recent history, officials said.

Chief executive officer Charles Stewart said he expected to close on the $47 million refinancing plan by the end of April.

“Our initial projection was closer to the first of April,” Mr. Stewart said. “But we are on track and we’ve received approval from all three county commissions to move forward on the bond issue.”

Officials of the hospital, which is owned by the nonprofit Hutcheson Hospital Authority, announced in February an agreement with Regions Bank and the Morgan Keegan Co. for a bond issue of $47.5 million.

The tax-exempt deal includes refinancing $22.5 million in existing debt and budgeting $25 million to renovate patient rooms, the lobby and the cardiac cauterization lab, and to replace an MRI (a magnetic resonance imaging machine), a CT scanner and cardiac monitoring equipment.

Work on the lobby will be first because it will be less disruptive than work in patient rooms. Officials hope the work will be finished in three years.

The deal is a significant step for the hospital, which in 2006 had posted more than $12 million in losses over three years. Hospital officials reported a $815,000 net income for this year.

“I think we are sending a message that the hospital is healthy and sound,” Hutcheson board member Stan Porter said. “And this investment is just the first phase of other great things as it continues to grow and we do well in the community.”

Though Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties are not owners of the hospital, administrators from each county appoint a member to the board, which oversees the hospital. The hospital authority leases the hospital and its assets to Hutcheson Medical Inc., Mr. Stewart said.

“The bottom line is that (Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties) have no exposure, if there was a default,” he said. “But it would basically take a total failure of the hospital system for that to happen.”

Hospital officials brought in a turn-around team that tightened operations and controlled expenses. Mr. Stewart joined the hospital as CEO in 2005. The hospital’s progress has been impressive, he said.

“I wasn’t (with Hutcheson) when it started slipping,” he said. “But my impression is that was a gradual thing. After the cuts in reimbursements in Medicare in 1997, a lot of hospitals struggled. There was some bad press and a lot of the public confidence was eroded.”

General surgeon Daniel Heithhold said the planned renovations will help to restore that public trust.

“I think one of the best things is that it shows the hospital is starting to do well,” Dr. Heithhold said. “They are trying to improve the physical facilities and give patients a better hospital stay. And the equipment (replacement) will help as far as having absolutely cutting edge radiology.”