Carilion Clinic raises $96M for cancer center

Carilion Clinic has very nearly reached its $100 million goal to build a six-story cancer center in Roanoke, but it’s counting on public support to cross the finish line.

During Roanoke’s annual Freedom Festival Thursday night, just before the evening’s fireworks, Carilion launched the public phase of its “Reaching Far, Caring Close” campaign. The Roanoke-based health system announced it has raised $96 million for the planned 257,000-square-foot cancer center over the past six years, but the health system is now asking for the public’s help to close the final $4 million gap.

“Ultimately, this project is by our community, for our community, which I think is what makes this so special,” said Lindsay Collins, vice president of oncology services at Carilion. “It’s really cool to be a part of because there was a lot of skepticism around whether we would get to this $100 million within our kind of smaller community. … It’s a big number. And so, we’re really excited to be this close. It feels tangible at this point.”

Launching the public campaign the night of the festival, she said, is “a great symbol of our partnership with the city.”

The health system broke ground on the new center in October 2024, and it is currently on track for completion in October 2027.

Once complete, the new building will replace Carilion’s 42-year-old cancer facility on South Jefferson Street, growing cancer care space from 40,000 to 250,000 square feet, doubling patient capacity and introducing advanced treatments and clinical trials previously unavailable in the area. The new building will be located on Carilion’s Riverside campus.

Furthermore, Carilion states that the center will offer comprehensive services for both adult and pediatric patients, advanced technology, clinical trials and multidisciplinary care teams, as well as support services tailored to the needs of patients and their families. Blue Ridge Cancer Care, which partners with Carilion to provide medical and radiation oncology services at the existing facility, will continue to provide care in the new facility.

Collins describes the planned center as “a beacon of hope and healing.” For her, the completion of the center is personal.

“I lost my dad to cancer nine years ago,” Collins told Virginia Business Tuesday before the public campaign launch. “His birthday is actually tomorrow, so it’s going to be a really bittersweet moment tonight, but we had to leave Roanoke to go get care, because there weren’t the specialists here that were needed to manage his type of cancer.”

Collins said it’s a challenge for cancer patients and their families to have to seek care far away from home, as it uproots their lives and may cause them to be separated from their support systems.

“How amazing will it be when our community doesn’t have to make that choice anymore? That they can stay here and get world-class care, and that they don’t have to leave their support systems and their friends or their job or their children to be able to get the care that they think they need,” she said. “We’re going to have it all right here, and it’s going to be under one roof. It’s going to be beautiful, it’s going to be high tech, it’s going to feel comfortable. If one person doesn’t have to experience what my family had to experience, it’ll all be worth it.”

Carilion currently treats about 3,500 patients for different forms of cancer each year, although Collins said she expects that number to grow.

The center bears the name of former Advance Auto Parts CEO Nicholas Taubman, a past U.S. ambassador to Romania, and his wife, Jenny, who donated $25 million to the project in 2024.

HDR, an employee-owned design firm with headquarters in Nebraska, worked with Carilion oncology teams to design the building.

Collins said the health system is still working on determining how many additional staff will be needed to accommodate the new building.

A nonprofit health care organization serving nearly 1 million patients in Virginia through hospitals, outpatient specialty centers and primary care practices, Carilion Clinic has more than 13,000 employees.