Command History
Naval Hospital Lemoore (NHL) was commissioned 1 July 1968 as a 67-bed hospital by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED), Washington, D.C. The command provides quality health care to 32,000 eligible beneficiaries at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California and NAS Fallon, Nevada. The command also provides dental care and medical administrative support to Navy, Marine Corps and international students at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Defense Language Institute and the Center for Information Dominance in Monterey, California.
Naval Hospital Lemoore personnel have provided direct support to numerous operational missions around the world. During operations in Southeast Asia, NHL staff was involved in support of Marine infantry units and onboard various ships and they also provided continuity of care to prisoners of war returning to the United States. In 1990 and 1991, hospital personnel supported Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm by serving on USNS Mercy (TAH-19), augmenting Fleet Hospital FIVE, serving with Fleet Marine Forces ground units, and onboard amphibious ships. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, NHL staff actively supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay as well as deployments to provide casualty care in Landstuhl, Germany. In recent years, NHL staff have provided support for missions in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Mexico, recovery of service member remains in Vietnam, and humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions in the Pacific.
Naval Hospital Lemoore’s current hospital building was dedicated on 12 May 2000. It is a 150,000 square foot facility that included 16 inpatient beds, 4 operating rooms, in addition to several primary care and specialty clinics.
On 1 October 2004, NHL integrated the three branch Dental Clinics at NAS Lemoore, NAS Fallon and NPS Monterey into a unified medical/dental team.
On 15 November 2008, NHL began a $6.8M two-phase renovation of the operations side branch clinic to transform the 1960s building into a state-of-the-art health facility to maintain medical support close to the operational squadrons and flight line personnel. The renovation was completed in March 2010, and the clinic was renamed “Hornet Health Clinic.”
On 5 November 2013, $1.6M was awarded for a sleep study Joint Incentive Fund Project in collaboration with the Veterans Affairs Central California (Fresno) Health Care System. On
13 June 2014, NHL signed a master sharing agreement with the Veterans Affairs Central California (Fresno) and Sierra Nevada (Reno) Health Care Systems. This agreement supports the sharing of clinical services and training opportunities between the agencies, and has become a key contributor to the skills sustainment and readiness of the active duty staff.
In October 2012 and June 2014, the Medical Home Port teams in Lemoore and Fallon respectively, received the highest recognition possible (Level 3) from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. On 1 March 2015, BUMED officially designated a Fleet-Centered Medical Home Team at the Hornet Health Clinic.
On 30 June 2014, NHL closed its two inpatient units as well as its 24-hour urgent care clinic following extensive reviews by BUMED. Obstetrical deliveries and gynecologic, orthopedic and general surgery cases requiring inpatient stays are now performed by NHL Navy surgeons via an external resource sharing agreement with Adventist Medical Center-Hanford.
On 27 March 2015, NHL completed a $5.6 million renovation of the 12,800 square foot Dental/Physical Therapy building which sits across from the main hospital building. These renovated spaces included 18 new dental treatment rooms and new Physical Therapy spaces including a separate gym and treatment areas that expanded both capacity and complexity of patients that can be treated.
On 30 September 2017, Naval Hospital Lemoore was renamed Naval Health Clinic Lemoore to align with its outpatient surgical model of care. Additionally, an Urgent Care Clinic was opened to re-establish after-hours acute care for beneficiaries.
The Medical Treatment Facility has been accredited by The Joint Commission since 1974, completing its most recent survey in August 2017.