Rear Adm. Raquel C. Bono, chief of the Navy Medical Corps and director, National Capital Region Medical Directorate, visited Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point, North Carolina, Aug. 18, 2015.

After a brief meeting with the clinic's command triad, Bono was taken on a tour of the clinic, stopping to speak with Sailors in the pharmacy, surgical clinic and the Warrior Wellness and Readiness Clinic, where Marines assigned to 2d Marine Aircraft Wing receive medical care.

Bono then spoke to almost 100 Sailors and civilians during an all-hands call, speaking about the way ahead for Navy medicine and how health care, like many other facets of the military will see increasing joint service operations in the near future.

"During the last several years, if you were wounded on the battlefield and you arrived at one of our treatment facilities with a pulse, you had a 99 percent chance of surviving," Bono said. "That was unheard of before these latest conflicts. This was due to the Army medics and Navy Corpsmen working together, along with the Air Force enabling us to get our wounded back to a major medical facility within 48 hours."

"The relationship we have with the Marines is a very special one, " Bono said. "They understand how important we are to their mission. You are the Marine Corps' docs. You deliver care where nobody else can and I thank you for that. Now the question we have to ask ourselves is how we make that relationship even stronger."

Bono also spoke to the mostly enlisted crowd of Hospital Corpsmen about how fortunate they were to be working at NHCCP.

"Here at NHCCP, you get to experience providing patient care ..., which in turn prepares you for whatever or wherever the Navy might take you," Bono said. "And, while you're preparing others to go into harm's way, which is our mission, you also have the ability to prepare yourself mentally and physically, ensuring you're ready to answer the call when needed."

Named after Medal of Honor recipient, Pharmacist Mate Second Class William D. Halyburton, the Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point provides high-quality patient care to more than 33,000 active-duty members and DOD beneficiaries. It is the only Navy clinic offering same-day surgery. NHCCP also offers Medical Home Port (including family care and pediatrics), Internal Medicine, Orthopedics, Physical Therapy, Mental Health, Pharmacy services, Preventive Medicine, Aviation Medicine and Radiology to include MRIs.

For more news from Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point , visit www.navy.mil/.