MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C -- U.S. Marines and Sailors with 2nd Marine Logistics Group, alongside officials with II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Installations East, and the Defense Health Agency, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new, state-of-the-art Naval Dental Center, which will support Marines and Sailors across the base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Monday, January 10, 2022.
The new Naval Dental Center, staffed and operated by U.S. Navy medical providers with 2nd Dental Battalion, will provide world-class dental care – to include general dentistry, hygiene, endodontics, prosthodontics, periodontics, oral surgery, ancillary services, and administrative support – to the Marines and Sailors of II MEF across the MCIEAST region when it begins operations later this winter.
The center will also serve as the battalion’s headquarters for command and control and operational planning purposes.
“The Naval Dental Center represents the Defense Health Agency and Bureau of Medicine and Surgery’s commitment to quality comprehensive dental care and further solidifies our promise to take care of our warfighters,” said Capt. Nadjmeh “Nadji” M. Hariri, commanding officer of 2nd Dental Battalion. “Consolidating the support services and dental resources allows us to be more efficient and proficient in providing both administrative and operational support to all subordinate commands in the Carolina Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The overall infrastructure design and the state-of-the-art technology opens the way and builds the foundation for future technological updates, improvements, and innovation.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the end of a $44 million, six-year-long construction project completed by RQ-DPR Joint Venture that began in August 2015.
Lt. Gen. Ronald J. Place, director of the Defense Health Agency; Lt. Gen. William M. Jurney, commanding general of II MEF; Brig. Gen. Andrew M. Niebel, commanding officer of Marine Corps Installations East; and Brig. Gen. Forrest C. Poole III, commanding officer of 2nd Marine Logistics Group, were distinguished guests of 2nd Dental Battalion during the ceremony.
The new Naval Dental Center is a 70,295 square foot facility with capacity to support up to 7,000 patients for routine dental care. The center is also replacing four outdated buildings across Camp Lejeune, including the former 2nd Dental Battalion headquarters and three dental clinics spread across the installation.
While capabilities from the previous clinics will be consolidated inside the center, new options will also be implemented for providers. This includes additional equipment in the dental prosthetics lab and an in-house dental cone beam computed tomography (CT), which will facilitate organic high definition scans for service members without the need to be referred to another provider away from the base, said Cmdr. George P. Coan, the director for administration with 2nd Dental Battalion.
A specialty dental clinic inside the center will also support referrals for around 45,000 patients from across the Carolina MAGTF, to include service members from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point; Marine Corps Air Station New River; Marine Corps Special Operations Command at Stone Bay; and the Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command Camp Lejeune.
The Naval Dental Center is scheduled to be opened for business later this February.
“The Naval Dental Center Camp Lejeune ribbon cutting symbolizes the hard work and dedication towards the dental health and readiness of our beneficiaries and supported commands,” said Master Chief Petty Officer Kinkela H. Kuedituka, command master chief of 2nd Dental Battalion. “Our new facility gives us the equipment and space to train and develop our healthcare professionals to ensure we stay on the forefront of Naval Dentistry. The ability to consolidate our support services under one roof now unifies us as a command to provide highly reliable dental care while maintaining a ready force to better support the Defense Health Agency vision of “Unified, Reliable and Ready.”