When Shriners Hospitals for Children is demolished in August to make way for a $73 million, two-story complex, doctors will take their patients outside — to a state-of-the-art mobile operating trailer, similar to those the military uses on the battlefield.

The $1.4 million medical trailer, complete with wheels, plumbing and a generator, is the only one of its kind in the state.

It will be used for about three years while construction is under way, then sent back to the Mainland, where it could be used in a variety of ways, from a health clinic in rural or under-served areas to a trauma operating room, Shriners officials said.

Most importantly, they say, it will mean Shriners will continue to see the same number of children in Honolulu — about 550 a year — even while the hospital is under construction and its two current operating rooms are shut down.

"It's a well-contained system," said Richard Di Bucci, surgical services manager at Shriners. "Your only limitation is space."

The trailer's operating room is 318 square feet — about half the size of the hospital's two current operating rooms. But Di Bucci pointed out that the size of the trailer's operating room is comparable to what most hospitals in the state use.

"We just have to get used to it," he said.

The other issue for Shriners — going from two operating rooms to one — will be resolved with schedule changes, so the same number of surgeries can be performed. Di Bucci said some surgeries will be scheduled early in the morning, others will be done at night. Doctors and nurses already know about the schedule changes.

Di Bucci and his team have also toured the trailer and are familiarizing themselves with its dimensions and equipment.

In June, doctors will start using the trailer for small surgeries. By August, all Shriners surgeries will be performed in the unit.

Ralph Semb, Shriners chief executive officer and chairman of the board, said that before the national nonprofit purchased the trailer, it went searching for available operating room space at other hospitals on the island. But there was nothing available.

Then someone on the Shriners staff pointed Semb to the mobile operating rooms, and he decided to invest the money rather than slow down the hospital construction project and leave one operating room open, which would have been costly.

"It's serving the needs of the employees ... and making sure the children we're operating on are not going without care," said Semb, speaking from Tampa, Fla., where Shriners has its headquarters.

MORE SPACE

The Shriners hospital on Punahou Street is one of 22 nationwide and serves children from across Hawai'i, the Pacific and Asia. In its 80-year history in the Islands, it has helped 23,000 kids by providing free surgeries and follow-up care.

The current facility is 38 years old and will be torn down in sections after a groundbreaking in mid-August. The new hospital will be two stories high and grow significantly — from about 86,000 to 116,000 square feet. The facility is now one story.

And though the hospital will see about the same number of patients, it will reconfigure the current 40 inpatient beds. The new facility will have 24 inpatient beds and 20 beds in family quarters.

Children in the family quarters will rehabilitate in a homey environment with their families. The patient beds will be in a more traditional hospital atmosphere and serve mostly severely ill children or those who need more care.

RAISING MONEY

Shriners announced its plans for the new facility in June 2005. It has since altered the original designs, following input from the community and city planners, to lower the height of the new building and slightly decrease its square footage. The original plans called for a 144,000-square-foot, four-story complex, with a top roof height of 85 feet. The new plan calls for a building 50 feet tall at its highest point.

To help cover the costs of the new facility, Shriners will kick off a capital fundraising campaign next month. Semb said the nonprofit needs to raise about $15 million.

The rest of the construction costs will come from endowment funds. The mobile operating trailer was not covered in the construction costs, and also came from endowment funds.

Semb said this is the first time Shriners has purchased a mobile operating room.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.