A mobile surgical trailer at Shriners Hospital for Children will be moved from the Punahou Street facility this morning.

The trailer — much like those used to treat wounded soldiers on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan — was used for surgeries while a new surgical unit was being constructed.

That unit is now complete so the state-of-the-art trailer will be moved back to the Mainland for use at another Shriners hospital.

The move of the trailer marks the kick-off of the second phase of a capital improvements project for the Honolulu Shriners facility.

The $73 million capital improvements project is set to wrap up in summer 2010.

Shriners Hospital in Honolulu opened in 1923, the second in the nation. Today, Shriners of Honolulu serves thousands of infants and children with specialized pediatric care at no cost to families.