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Roanoke-based Carilion gets state OK for kidney transplants
Health system serves a 20-county region that spans from Rockingham to Tazewell
Beth JoJack //May 8, 2025//
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Photo courtesy Carilion Clinic.
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Photo courtesy Carilion Clinic.
Roanoke-based Carilion gets state OK for kidney transplants
Health system serves a 20-county region that spans from Rockingham to Tazewell
Beth JoJack //May 8, 2025//
Carilion Clinic has received the state’s blessing to go ahead with a kidney transplant program, despite UVA Health‘s vocal opposition.
The Roanoke-based health system announced Thursday afternoon that it had received approval for the program from Virginia’s Division of Certificate of Public Need. Carilion expects to begin kidney transplant surgeries in 2026.
Currently, there is no kidney transplant surgery available in the southwestern part of Virginia. The State Medical Facilities Plan states that transplant services should be “accessible within two hours driving time one way.”
In a letter to the state last year, UVA raised several objections to Carilion’s proposal for a kidney transplant program, including a concern that it would pull patients from UVA Health. The Certificate of Public Need staff in May 2024 recommended that the Virginia health commissioner, Dr. Karen Shelton, deny Carilion’s request for reasons that included the negative impact it would have on currently existing kidney transplant programs.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
