Severe medical staffing shortages at Naval Hospital Bremerton have left thousands of service members and their families without access to on-base health care at one of the country’s largest naval installations.
During the Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pressed Navy senior officials about repeated staffing cuts ordered by the Defense Health Agency (DHA) at Naval Base Kitsap — home to more than 15,000 active-duty service members and 18,000 family members and retirees.
The hospital’s internal medicine department currently has no physicians for more than 2,000 patients. With no immediate plans to fill the vacancies, the Defense Health Agency has been directing patients to the nearby Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord…