PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A medical facility at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth is celebrating more than two decades of services.
The hospital held a rededication ceremony for the Charette Health Care Center Tuesday to celebrate 25 years of service, which Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover described as "a symbol of healing and hope."
The facility opened on Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s campus in 1999, with a dedication of the one-million-square-foot building on April 30 that year. Tuesday's rededication is a reminder of the facility's achievements throughout the years.
“This facility also supports robust medical research with over 100 active studies at any given time and over 100 publications a year,” said Capt. Brian Feldman, the director of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
The facility is named after Master Chief Hospital Corpsman William R. Charette. He served with the 1st Marine Division during the Korean War where he came under hostile fire while helping the wounded. Despite his injuries, he continued to treat and save the Marines he served alongside.
“Hospital Corpsman Third Class Charette repeatedly and unhesitantly moved about through a murderous barrage of hostile small arms and mortar fire to render assistance to his wounded comrades,” said CDR Cindi Palacios.
President Dwight Eisenhower awarded Charette the Medal of Honor in 1954. For more than two decades, medical staff here have worked to maintain the same mindset as the building’s namesake.
“He represents the best of the best," said U.S. Navy Surgeon General Rear Admiral Darin Via. "It’s something we all want to emulate and it’s what our doctors, nurses, corpsmen, medics, it’s what they do every day.”
Advanced technology is in the facility’s future. The center is now one of five military treatment facilities piloting a new program bringing online care to patients.
"The medical center is also pioneering a pilot program which provides DoD facilities a dedicated alert air ambulance aircraft capable of retrieving a patient within two to five hours," Feldman said.
In August, the Charette Health Care Center became a level two trauma center.
"We are committed to being a resource to care for critically ill and injured patients regardless of any affiliation with the military," Feldman said.