Patients Will Receive Pre- and Post-Transplant Care in Vermont, Surgery in New Hampshire
Vermont Business Magazine Patients in Vermont and northern New York will have access to vital local support before and after kidney transplant surgery through a new regional partnership between University of Vermont Health Network and Dartmouth Health.
When University of Vermont Medical Center announced in late 2024 that the hospital’s Transplant Program would no longer perform kidney transplant surgeries, the organization began exploring a collaboration with Dartmouth Health – where UVM Medical Center would continue to provide medical care for patients before and after transplantation, with the actual transplant procedure taking place at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.
“Rural hospitals and health care systems across the country are evaluating how they will need to transform to preserve access to care, improve affordability, and ensure we’re here for our patients for the long term,” said Sunny Eappen, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer at UVM Health Network. “While the decision to stop doing kidney transplants in Burlington was not easy, this partnership with Dartmouth Health is an example of how we can work together – across hospitals, health systems and state borders – to get our patients the care they need.”
Recognizing the critical need for seamless, local care, the two rural academic health systems have signed an agreement to provide a regional care model focused on preserving patient access and continuity of care:
- Through the partnership, Dartmouth Health transplant surgeons in collaboration with UVM transplant nephrologists, will conduct regular pre-surgical clinics based at UVM Medical Center in Burlington. Patients will be able to undergo pre-transplant evaluations and preparation for transplantation with expert support from both organizations.
- Following transplant surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, and once surgically stable, ongoing care transitions to the Transplant Nephrology team at UVM Medical Center (in close collaboration and communication with the DHMC Transplant Surgery team), for long-term post-transplant medical care, streamlining follow-up visits and minimizing the burden of travel for ongoing care. Patients will continue to be followed for as long as the transplant remains functional.
“This collaboration ensures that kidney transplant patients in our region receive the right care at the right time, in the right place,” said Marios Prikis, MD, FACP, kidney and transplant specialist and medical director at the Division of Nephrology at UVM Health Network. “It’s a patient-centered approach for our region that combines expertise with local access.”
“When UVMMC announced the closure of its transplant program, the transplant program at DHMC began exploring options to allow the patients in northern Vermont and New York to continue to have access to this life-saving treatment,” said Michael F. Daily, MD, MS, FACS, transplant surgery section chief at DHMC.
“This evolved into a Dartmouth Health transplant clinic in the previous UVMMC transplant clinic space, utilizing the trained transplant professionals from UVMMC’s clinic and providing care under the banner of Dartmouth Health. For UVMMC patients, they will continue to get much of their care in Burlington, but will now have their transplant at DHMC.”
UVM Medical Center previously performed about a dozen kidney transplants per year in Burlington.
Patients currently awaiting transplant or in need of follow-up care can contact 603-653-3931 or [email protected], or visit dartmouth-hitchcock.org/transplantation, for more information.
About University of Vermont Health Network
University of Vermont Health Network is an integrated system serving the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives.
The partners are:
- University of Vermont Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
- University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
- University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
- University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health & Hospice
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 30 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 15,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.
9.17.2025. Burlington, Vt. — UVMHN
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