On 9 July 1941 Congress authorized the establishment of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, with an appropriation of $14.99 million to clear 8,000 acres of swamp, farms, and timberland. Navy Civil Engineer Corps Officers from the 5th Naval District in Norfolk were constructing the field on 24 October 1941 when the first Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Everette J. Olncik, USNR, arrived. The original name of the activity was Cunningham Field with Colonel Cushman, USMC, in command of a small Marine Guard Detachment.
Lieutenant Commander Olncik's primary mission was malaria control with day to day sick call considered secondary. Patients requiring hospitalization were transported by truck to the newly completed temporary dispensary at the tent camp area of the New River activity, later named Camp Lejeune. The attack on Pearl Harbor intensified construction on the station. As a consequence, the original location for the dispensary was changed from the shores of Slocum Creek to a more central location. In December 1941, the first hospital corpsmen, PhM3 L. Sloan and HA1c H. Sims, reported for duty and held sick call in the Marine Guard Barracks.
Captain J. W. Vann, USN relieved Lieutenant Commander Olncik as Senior Medical Officer in March of 1942. As other personnel arrived, dispensary services were moved to Barracks "C". Later in March 1942, LCDR Harold Gillespie, USN, Arrived from the School of Aviation Medicine in Pensacola. The following month, Dr. William J. Holloway and LCDR J. G. McDaniels, USN arrived to augment the medical complement. The Building 202 located on Fifth Avenue. The Dispensary shared the building with a "slop chute" and a chapel and had two Packard ambulances that were used to transport patients. The station was home to about 25 Marine officers, 545 enlisted Marines, 22 Naval Officers and 137 Sailors. By May 1942, there were three additional medical officers and the dispensary averaged eight patients per day.
On 11 July 1942, Captain Vann was relieved by Commander Guy Fish, USN as Senior Medical Officer. On 7 October 1942, the new dispensary was opened and 18 patients were transferred from Barracks "C" Dispensary. The first operation performed in the new dispensary was on 22 October 1942. On 3 November 1942, nine Navy Nurses reported for duty with Miss M. R. Genest serving as the Chief Nurse.
Under the purview of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the dispensary was commissioned as a Naval Hospital on 1 July 1968. Construction began for a new, state of the art facility on 9 September 1992. This $34 million, 201,806 square feet facility was designed by Rogers, Lovelock, and Fitz, Inc., and of modern medical and dental care was dedicated on 1 October 1994 as Halyburton Naval Hospital. The 2nd of October marked a milestone in history as the old hospital closed its doors for the first time in forty-two years, but without any lapse or loss of continuity of care. The new hospital was fully operational on 3 October 1994.
On 1 October 2007 as a result of a Base, Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision, the Naval Hospital was realigned to a Naval Health Clinic. The realignment forced some changes regarding the scope of care provided on board MCAS Cherry Point. The facility divested the ability to deliver children, provide emergency services and maintain overnight patients. However the clinic did continue same day surgery services. To this day NHC Cherry Point remains the only health clinic in Navy Medicine to offer same-day surgery services.
May 10th is very special day for our staff at Halyburton Naval Hospital. The facility is named in honor of Pharmacist Mate Second Class William D. Halyburton, a North Carolina native. Petty Officer Halyburton served as a Corpsman with 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division during World War II. On 10 May 1945, Marines were heavily engaged with enemy forces in the siege for Okinawa. As Halyburton's company advanced through a strategically important draw, they were suddenly pinned down by enemy fire from all directions. Despite the enemy's merciless barrage, he reached the Marine farthest away and rendered aid. After the fallen warrior was struck a second time, Petty Officer Halyburton shielded the Marine by placing himself in the direct line of fire. "Alert, determined, and completely unselfish in his concern for the helpless Marine, he persevered in his efforts until he himself sustained mortal wounds and collapsed, heroically sacrificing himself that his comrade might live." The staff at Halyburton Naval Health Clinic are truly honored to work in a military treatment facility bearing his name as it reflects the Navy/Marine Corps team core values of HONOR, COURAGE, and COMMITMENT.
Presently, the clinic continues to provide high-quality patient care services to 33,000 active duty members and DoD beneficiaries. Services currently offered include: Gynecology, Medical Home Port (included Family Care and Pediatrics), Internal Medicine, Orthopedics, Military Medicine, Radiology Services to include MRI, Physical Therapy, Mental Health, Pharmacy, Preventive Medicine, Aviation Medicine, and Same-Day Surgery. The clinic also houses 12th Dental and 2nd Marine Air Wing Medical.
