U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa Branch Clinic Futenma Opens Newly Remodeled Medical and Dental Clinic

Story by Isaac Savitz

U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa

20 December 2024 Marine Corps Air station (MCAS) Futenma, Okinawa, Japan Navy and Marine Corps leadership cut the ribbon on the newly remodeled medical and dental clinics. Lt. Cmdr. Austin Haag Director for Branch Clinics and Capt. Donavon Yapshing, Director for Dental Services started the ceremony with a benediction from U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa’s Chaplain Lt. Zachary Juniper. After, U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, (USNHO) Commanding Officer (CO) Capt. Kathleen Cooperman gave opening remarks and introduced MCAS Futenma’s CO Col. William Pacatte.

The steady whir of helicopters taking off and landing just behind the formation set the stage for the importance of Navy Medicine providing medical readiness to the warfighters always ready to answer the call. Capt. Cooperman spoke about the collaborative efforts of the many different organizations involved in the nearly four yearlong project. Cooperman explained that there was a major supply chain issue that left the medical clinic without equipment, so they retrofitted the new dental space to accommodate the medical team while they finished renovations to the medical facility. This was no easy task and took careful consideration, teamwork, and thinking outside the box to make it all happen. The USNHO CO brought up Ms. Angelita Nobel Facilities lead architect to recognize her tremendous contribution to making the renovations happen. Col. Pacatte said “these two facilities contribute to the well-being and quality of life for his Marines by offering state-of-the-art health care. Pacatte also spoke about the facility’s environmental footprint and the sustainable best practices used to create the smallest impression possible using the latest least environmentally impactful methods to create the space.

Capt. Kathleen Cooperman, Col. William Pacatte, Capt. Donavon Yapshing, and Lt. Cmdr. Austin Haag cut the ribbon and then officially opened the clinics for business. The guests toured the new facilities and met with the Sailors providing care.

Medical readiness is one of the main focuses of the clinic with medical screenings, booked immunization encounters, shot exercises, PHAs, hearing conservation, and overall duty status screenings drawing most of the Marines to the clinic every day. BMC Futenma follows the Marine Center Medical Home Port model. The enrolled patient population is 2300-2400 active-duty service members mostly under the umbrella of IIIMEF and MCIPAC. Most of the patients are from the 1st MAW with some other units falling outside the Marine Air Wing.

The U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Okinawa (USNMRTCO) supports the Defense Health Agency’s U.S. Naval Hospital, Okinawa (USNHO) as the largest OCONUS Navy Medicine medical treatment facility and stands at the ready to respond to contingency operations to support the INDOPACOM region. It is a critical regional asset for direct care delivery, regional referrals, and medical contingency operations. The staff of USNHO understands their vital role as pre-positioned, forward-deployed naval forces within the first island chain, aligned and in support of the joint military commands and operations.