AUGUSTA — A big milestone’s been reached in the construction of Maine’s newest hospital, reports the Kennebec Journal.

A crane set in place the final steel beam at the MaineGeneral Medical Center site in Augusta.

The Kennebec Journal in Augusta says the white beam bearing the colorful signatures of hundreds of employees, visitors, donors, patients and construction workers rose slowly during the topping-out ceremony, signaling that the skeleton for the new multimillion-dollar hospital had reached its height.

Site work began last August, and the planned 192-bed regional hospital is slated to open Dec. 7, 2013, a full six months ahead of the original timetable.

MaineGeneral Medical Center’s president and chief executive officer, Chuck Hays, calls it “the largest health-care construction project in the state’s history.” Officials say 89 percent of the workers are from Maine.