Lung transplant program launches at VCU Health

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – A long-awaited endeavor is now becoming a reality as VCU Health receives approval from the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) to launch a lung transplant program at the Hume-Lee Transplant Center.

“This is a project that our team, our transplant team and our health system administrative teams have been working on together for several years,” said Dr. Marlon Levy, interim CEO of VCU Health and interim senior vice president of VCU Health Sciences. “It builds on a transplant program, a robust transplant program that is already very large, one of the largest in the country.”

VCU Health’s Hume-Lee Transplant Center will be the third location in Virginia to perform lung transplants, a situation that Dr. Levy believes it will address an urgent need in the Commonwealth for people with advanced lung disease.

“There are a large number of patients with lung disease and lung failure,” he said. “There are patients whose lung disease is so severe that the only way to stay alive is to have a new lung inserted.”

Dr. Levy said the addition also removes barriers to long-distance travel when calling patients for a game.

“For patients whose resources are limited and who cannot travel sometimes hundreds of miles to receive care, access to a lung transplant program close to home is really critical,” he said

Several patients are currently being evaluated to determine whether they are suitable for the procedure.

“We assume that around 15 patients can be transplanted in the first 12 months,” said Dr. Levy. “Within two or three years the number is likely to be closer to 30 or 40 patients.”

Dr. Levy hopes a supplement will make a life-saving difference for patients.

“Patients who currently have or will develop lung failure that is so severe that the only way to keep them alive is to get them a new lung so that these patients have access to a new lung and not to it the lack of a transplant,” he said.

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