The first medical facility at Patuxent River was an infirmary built in 1943. It was later designated as a dispensary. In the mid-50s, this command was designated a station hospital and was considered a department of the Naval Air Station. This command was originally designed as a 217 bed hospital. On 1 July 1968, the station hospital was designated a Naval Hospital under the management control of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED). The present facility was planned in 1962, and commissioned on 29 May 1969. The present organization provides ambulatory health care through a TRICARE Service Center and direct care in internal medicine, mental health, family medicine, pediatrics, women's health, optometry, and military/aviation medicine.