Photo By Cpl. Brianna Christensen | Marines, sailors and distinguished guests cut a ribbon signifying the official opening...... read more read more
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CAMP FOSTER, Japan — A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa April 30 to officially open the new facility on Camp Foster.
Planning for the transition began more than a decade ago and after countless hours of preparation, patients and services officially began transition to the new location March 5.
“Our replacement facility leverages the leading edge of medical technology,” said Navy Capt. Pius A. Aiyelawo, the commanding officer of U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa. “For more than a year now, we have simultaneously planned and executed a flawless transition from Camp Lester to Camp Foster, while also providing uninterrupted civil-quality service to all those entrusted to our service.”
The facility represents Navy medicines’ enduring commitment to providing the highest level of readiness and care to military personnel and families in the Asia-Pacific region.
The new facility plays an important role in the lives of all service members and families stationed on Okinawa, according to Maj. Gen. Peter J. Talleri, the commanding general of Marine Corps Installations Pacific and Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler and guest speaker at the ceremony.
“There will be thousands of children born in this facility,” said Talleri. “There will be many lives saved. The prefecture of Okinawa allows that to happen, as a United States Marine, I want to thank the people of Okinawa because it is days like today that remind me how important and how valuable our relationship is, so thank you.”
The process of moving facilities would not have been possible without the commitment of the people who worked so hard to see the new facility through to completion, according to Talleri.
“For the Marine Corps, for all the military services and for those families that will be forward- deployed to the prefecture of Okinawa, having a facility like this means so much,” said Talleri.
“The people standing to the left and right of me are the heart and soul of this organization. They have the brains, equipment and knowledge, and they have the camaraderie from working with our partners here in Japan. The internships we have worked so closely together on and the sharing of important knowledge helps us take care of our most important assets, our families and friends.”
Talleri also acknowledged the tremendous amount of support received from the hospital’s host nation.
“The Japanese-U.S. Alliance could not be stronger today,” said Talleri. “I want to thank the country of Japan for allowing a day like today to occur and for its support of our forces in the Pacific. I want to thank the great prefecture of Okinawa and the Okinawa citizens for their generous hearts and great friendships. This is a proud day to have a facility like this that so many have worked so hard for.”
The hospital replaced the facility on Camp Lester, which was commissioned in 1958.
“Our story, here on Okinawa began shortly after World War II,” said Rear Adm. Michael H. Mittelman, the deputy surgeon general of the Navy and deputy chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington, D.C. “The military facilities here on Okinawa did not look anything like this, and they did not look anything like the building on Camp Lester.”
After World War II, a strip of huts served as isolated field hospitals on Camp Mercy, which no longer exists, and was located in present-day Ginowan City. In 1954, construction began in Chatan Town for a permanent U.S. Army hospital to replace the temporary buildings at Camp Mercy. It came to be known as Camp Kuwae. In 1976, the hospital was transferred to the Navy, and Camp Kuwae was renamed Camp Lester in 1982.
With the planning of the hospital move lasting more than a decade, some sailors in attendance remembered the early stages of the process.
“I was on board the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa on Camp Lester in the year 2000,” said Aiyelawo. “Back then, my commanding officer, Capt. Michael Mittelman, now Rear Adm. Mittelman, really laid out his vision for what this facility would be like.”
Mittelman was proud to be able to witness the opening of the new facility.
“On a personal note, it is exceptionally special for Aiyelawo and myself to be back here because of all the tours we have been on, our tours in Okinawa were, by far, our favorite ones,” said Mittelman. “I want to congratulate Aiyelawo and his entire staff for the monumental job they did in moving the facility from Camp Lester to Camp Foster. This team pulled this move off flawlessly, and that is a testament to the entire team here on Okinawa.”
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2013 00:42 |
| Story ID: | 106184 |
| Location: | CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 280 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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