The U.S. Navy hospital on Camp Lester was built at the height of the Cold War, a time when the U.S. military ran the island under an occupation government and issued its own yen currency for G.I.s to spend off base.
Since then, generations of those deployed to the Pacific have been treated, picked up prescriptions or delivered babies at the Okinawa facility.
The Navy moved its largest overseas hospital down the road to a new 443,000-square-foot facility on the neighboring Camp Foster Marine Corps base.
U. S. Naval Hospital Okinawa is the largest overseas hospital in the United States Navy, serving a beneficiary population of 55,000 active duty personnel, family members, civilian employees, contract personnel, and retirees. The hospital also provides referral services for nearly 189.000 beneficiaries throughout the western Pacific.
In March 2013, U. S. Naval Hospital Okinawa moved from Camp Lester to a newly constructed replacement facility on Camp Foster.
U. S. Naval Hospital Okinawa is jointly staffed by active duty Navy, Army, Air force, and Marine Corps personnel, as well as U. S. civilians, contractors, and Japanese employees. All are dedicated to providing high quality patient and family centered care to our warriors, their families, and others entrusted to us.
Besides the main facility, the hospital also manages six branch medical clinics staffed by hospital personnel and III Marine Expeditionary Force subordinate commands. These clinics are located at Camp Schwab, Camp Hansen, Camp Courtney, Camp Foster, MCAS Futenma, and Camp Kinser.
Although its location may have changed, the hospital's long tradition of compassion and quality care continues.
