RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health is ready to breathe new life into Virginia after the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) gave the university's Hume-Lee Transplant Center the green light to begin lung transplants. The center will address a critical need in the region, especially for patients who did not have access to transplant services previously. “It's been an ambition, a desire of ours now for many, many years,” said VCU Health's Interim CEO, Dr. Marlon Levy. Dr. Levy said the center will offer hope to hundreds of Virginians suffering from advanced lung disease. "There are simply patients who either are not getting transplants, and who are dying of lung failure, who could be saved," said Dr. Levy. "Or, there's patients that are out migrating, that are forced to travel to sometimes other states to be able to have their care.” VCU Health is one of the nation’s leading transplant centers, and the addition of lung transplants will further solidify its position as a premier healthcare provider. "We have grown over the last almost decade into one of the nation's premier solid organ transplant programs by volume and by quality," said Dr. Levy about VCU. "We have a significant safety net footprint and this is important for us to stay to that mission." As Virginia's third transplant center to gain the ability to perform lung transplants, the Hume-Lee Transplant Center is expected to perform up to 12 in its first year and potentially 40 to 50 per year within the next three to five years. Dr. Levy said that having a center in Richmond is important because, when someone needs an organ transplant, both them and the organ needs to get to the transplant center quickly and safety. "Geographical access is absolutely critical with lung transplantation as it is for all solid organs," he said. While no transplants have been administered at the center as of yet, Dr. Levy said there are several VCU patients already being evaluated. "We have all the personnel, we have all the resources," he said. "We now are communicating to our patients and to our to our colleagues who are in pulmonary medicine and who treat lung failure patients, that the program is, if you will, open for business." More information about the transplant center can be found on VCU Health's website.