Carilion Clinic, formerly known as Carilion Health System, is a Roanoke, Virginia-based non-profit integrated health care organization that provides care for nearly one million Virginians and West Virginians. Carilion owns and operates seven hospitals in the western part of Virginia as well as Radford University Carilion and a joint venture medical school and research institute with Virginia Tech. The system consists of hospitals, primary and specialty physician practices, pharmacies, health clubs and other complementary services. Carilion has more than 13,200 employees with 737 physicians covering more than 70 specialties at 225 practice sites, making it the largest employer in the Roanoke Valley. Clinical expertise include cancer, cardiology, heart surgery and vascular care, gastroenterology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, primary and preventive care, pediatrics, trauma, and women's health. History Carilion originated with Roanoke Memorial Hospital, founded in 1899 and located at the base of Mill Mountain in southwest Roanoke. The hospital expanded into related health care services and the acquisition of other hospitals beginning in the mid 1900s. Most prominent was the acquisition of the competing Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley in downtown Roanoke. The deal took several years to complete because of anti-trust concerns by the United States Department of Justice that two of the three major hospitals in the Roanoke Valley would now be under the same ownership. In the early 1990s, Roanoke Memorial adopted the name Carilion for its consolidated health care business. In 2019, Carilion announced plans to spend $300 million expanding services at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Carilion Clinic reorganization In 2006, Carilion's management warned that trends in the health care sector threatened to undermine the organization's financial position. In response, Carilion announced plans for a significant business reorganization to change its emphasis from running hospitals to hiring more doctors in a larger number of medical specialties, with a primary goal of better coordination of patient care and an emphasis on medical education and research. The plan was developed after visits to the Mayo Clinic and other similar organizations. As part of the reorganization plan, Carilion renamed itself Carilion Clinic. The vision for moving Carilion toward the "clinic" model was spearheaded by CEO Ed Murphy, who left Carilion in 2011 to work with a New York and London based firm in order to help develop ways to better manage and coordinate physicians and services provided by hospitals. Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute Carilion and Virginia