Upgraded medical, dental clinic opens for Marines and Sailors at Marine Corps Air Station New River

Story by Riley Eversull

Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Marine Corps Air Station New River has a brand new, state-of-the-art medical and dental facility for Marines and Sailors attached to 2nd Marine Air Wing. Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune celebrated the opening of the new Marine Centered Medical Home (MCMH) New River with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 26, 2024.

MCMH New River serves approximately 7,000 military members stationed at the air station. The clinic will focus on operational care for active duty with multiple ambulatory services under one roof.

Rear Admiral Kevin Brown, Defense Health Network Atlantic director and Naval Medical Forces Atlantic commander, provided guest speaker remarks for the event.

“The fundamental purpose of the Marine Centered Medical Home is to ensure that Marines and Sailors are physically and mentally ready to fight and win,” said Brown, who previously served as the director of NMCCL. “Today we celebrate the opening of this beautiful new facility which elevates naval warfighting readiness through the projection of medical power.”

Since 2013, the Defense Health Agency has worked closely with the Navy and Marine Corps to visualize and build the clinics for military personnel. MCMH New River is the largest clinic in the project following the 2022 openings of MCMH sites Hadnot Point and Wallace Creek on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

For New River staff, the clinic is a much-needed upgrade from the previous building which was constructed in the 1980s.

“This clinic will service Marines and Sailors at 26 different commands on New River,” explained Cmdr. Stephen Rogers, department head for MCMH New River. “This clinic allows for its beneficiaries’ greater access to care and allows them to complete medical requirements all in one location to make them mission-ready and capable.”

According to Rogers, the clinic is situated in the heart of MCAS New River, conveniently located just a walk from the flight line, barracks, and base chow hall. Services at MCMH New River will include primary care, radiology, pharmacy, aviation medicine, physical therapy, and dental.

The next MCMH upgrade is underway at the French Creek Branch Clinic on Camp Lejeune with work expected to finish in fall of 2024. Other MCMH projects to be completed during the next year are a sports medicine complex on Camp Geiger and a new clinic on Camp Johnson.