[7] In 1926, a group of army officers' wives founded the Casa de Marcílio Dias, a philanthropic institution, with the aim of providing social and educational assistance to the children of members of the same armed force.

[8][9] In 1934, the Association that maintained the house donated the property (the house and the surrounding land) to the Navy, which set up the Naval Institute of Biology (INB), officially created on February 8, 1939, for experimental research, preparation of biological research and technical teaching, with a hospital as an annex for the treatment of Navy personnel suffering from infectious or parasitic diseases.

[5][7] As demand for services increased, the Navy acquired a plot of land next to the Institute, where a new pavilion was built, providing 120 beds for patients with advanced tuberculosis.

[18][19] Inaugurated on February 8, 1980, the CMNMD continued to provide care and incorporated the School for Nursing Assistants that had been operating at the Navy Central Hospital.

[22] Under the Luiz Inácio Lula government, the Biomedical Research Institute was refurbished in 2007 and on November 9, 2009, it was installed in a new annex, but it remained subordinate to the HNMD.

[16][23] In recent years, the hospital's facilities have been refurbished,[5] the Medical and Statistical Archive Sector has been reorganized, computerized and connected to the other sectors of the hospital,[16] a Nuclear Medicine Centre has been created, which according to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) is “a reference in the care of radio-accident victims”,[24][25] the Central Dental Clinic underwent expansion and revitalization, and new high-tech equipment was acquired, According to Michael Ribeiro, “this revitalization of the equipment has made diagnoses more effective and less costly, as it reduces the need for referrals to partner clinics”.

[5] Located in a Lins de Vasconcelos neighborhood considered dangerous, the hospital lives in fear of violence caused by drug trafficking and the lack of policing in the area.