Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point
The Naval Health Clinic, Cherry Point is a military treatment facility located aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point providing medical care to United States uniformed service members, beneficiaries and retirees living and serving in the Eastern North Carolina region. The clinic's motto "Keeping the Warfighter in the Fight" reflects its commitment to ensuring the base's tenet units assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and Fleet Readiness Center East attain and sustain the highest state of medical readiness.
Leadership
Navy Captain James J. Driscoll assumed command of Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point on January 16, 2025.History
Early history: 1941–1968
On July 9, 1941, Congress authorized the establishment of what would become Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, requiring the presence of medical facility and Navy Medicine personnel to provide day-to-day sick call. The first Navy Medical Officer assigned to the dispensary was Lt. Cmdr. Everette J. Olnick. Olnick's primary mission was to control the spread of Malaria since the newly established airfield was situated among eastern Carolina swampland infested with mosquitos. The scope and scale of the dispensary continued to grow as the airfield's mission took on increased importance during the nation's involvement in World War II.Post World War II: 1968–2007
The facility was formally commissioned as Naval Hospital Cherry Point on July 1, 1968, with oversight held by the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Twenty-nine years later, construction began on a state-of-the-art facility with a total of 201,806 sq. feet at a cost of approximately $34 million designed by Rogers, Lovelock, and Fitz, Inc. The new facility, at its current location on Beaufort Road, was dedicated October 1, 1994 in the memory of Posthumous Medal of Honor recipient Pharmacist's Mate Second Class William D. Halyburton and became fully functional October 3, 1994.Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point honors the memory of Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class William David Halyburton, Jr., a Medal of Honor Recipient who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions May 10, 1945 on the Island of Okinawa while assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division Halyburton's Medal of Honor was officially donated to the clinic in May, 2016, where it is currently on display on the 1st floor. Naval Hospital Cherry Point realigned to Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point on October 1, 2007, as a result of recommendations made by Base Realignment and Closure. The realignment refocused the clinic's scope of care for service members, beneficiaries and retirees while divesting its ability to deliver babies, provide emergency services and maintain overnight patients.