“DHA has repeatedly ordered the base’s hospital to cut critical staff and medical care, which has been devastating for our service members,” Sen. Murray said.

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.

“Since 2022, the Defense Health Agency has repeatedly ordered the base’s hospital to cut critical staff and medical care — which has been devastating for our service members and their families’ access to health care. Instead of hiring anyone, DHA is forcing patients to travel over an hour, on a good day, each way. This is just unacceptable,” Murray said.

Navy Secretary John Phelan, who has been touring military installations since taking office, acknowledged widespread problems across the force, including inadequate medical infrastructure.

“As you know, I’ve been visiting a number of different installations of ours, and from some of the conditions of the barracks to some of the conditions in the medical facilities, we have issues at most of them. On that specific one I’m going to have to get back to you and get some more detail on it. Which I will do,” Phelan said.

Murray has repeatedly raised concerns about ongoing staffing shortfalls and reduced services at Naval Hospital Bremerton, which have forced hundreds of patients to seek care at off base medical facilities.

By February 2025, the hospital’s troubled internal medicine department was operating with just one physician for 2,200 patients. That physician has since left — about 700 retirees and veterans have since been transferred to civilian medical facilities across Kitsap County as a result.

“The reassignment of patients to new providers presents significant challenges, including disruptions in continuity of care which has led to gaps in treatment and potential declines in patient outcomes. It is also causing logistical and transportation barriers, particularly for older veterans or those with mobility limitations and difficulties in specialized care coordination, especially in designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). These concerns must be addressed immediately,” Murray wrote in a letter to then-acting DHA Director David Smith in March.

Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby echoed Murray’s concerns, acknowledging that there are “challenges with DHA across the board.”

“I agree with your assessment. And we’re working, like all the other services, to make sure we’re providing the best health care we can for our servicemembers and our families,” Kilby said.

Naval Hospital Bremerton said they were losing all active-duty internal medicine physicians mainly due to retirement and permanent change-of-station orders, but these routine military processes cannot explain the hospital’s chronic shortages, according to Murray. She said DHA’s failure to address the issue within established staffing systems “ raises serious concerns about whether DHA can address it in a timely manner.”

The crisis at Naval Hospital Bremerton, however, reflects broader challenges across the military health system. Since DHA assumed management of all military treatment facilities, bases nationwide have reported shortages of physicians and nurses, longer wait times for care and increasing reliance on civilian providers.

The situation at Bremerton has worsened over the past several years. In 2021, the hospital’s emergency department was downgraded to an urgent care clinic. In 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services designated Kitsap County as a “high-risk” and “health shortage area.” By 2024, the hospital was struggling to provide access to primary care, mental health services and maternal health.

“This is a readiness issue. It’s a retention issue. It’s personal for these families. So please, if you could get back to me about what steps we are going to take to fix this,” Murray said.

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