UT Southwestern’s $177 Million Radiology Oncology Campus Will Open In The Fort Worth Medical District In 2028

UT Southwestern is building a new two-story radiation oncology campus in Fort Worth’s Medical District to house the city’s first MRI-guided precision radiation treatment.

The UT System Board of Regents approved the plans for the $177 million facility earlier this year. It will break ground next year and be completed in 2028. UTSW’s expansion on the west side of North Texas is in response to the growing population and need for specialized services. Fort Worth will soon be the 12th largest city in the world, and its population is expected to exceed one million by 2028.

“We are delighted to be a part of the Fort Worth medical community and are deeply grateful for the people and organizations in Tarrant County whose generous support is helping make it possible for us to undertake construction of this facility and expand services to meet the medical needs of the area,” said Dr. Daniel Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern.

The new campus will include four new linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation treatments, with room to build out two more. One of the accelerators will be equipped with MRI-guided technology, which will provide unprecedented accuracy and be the first of its kind in Fort Worth.

It will also include positron emission tomography equipment, which can diagnose and evaluate tumor growth, and a fully equipped brachytherapy suite for efficiently delivering prostate and gynecologic high-dose radiation treatments.

The facility will add to UTSW’s robust radiation oncology care, which includes the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in North Texas and the largest radiation oncology facility in the region.

The Radiation Center began treating patients in Fort Worth in 1958, and in 1966, a generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Moncrief and a matching federal grant funded an expansion of the facility. Another Moncrief donation in 1979 expanded services again.

In 1999, UTSW took over administration of the center to provide cancer services in the Fort Worth Medical District. In 2006, the center shifted from radiation to cancer patient support services, including its culinary medicine program for cancer patients, which D CEO wrote about earlier this year. The new campus will add radiation treatment to Moncrief’s existing services, creating comprehensive cancer care.

In 2012, UTSW built the four-story, 60,000-square-foot Moncrief Cancer Institute. The current expansion of the radiation oncology campus will connect to UTSW’s University Hospital Hematology and Medical Oncology Clinic, which is housed within Moncrief Cancer Institute. UTSW’s presence in Fort Worth expanded in 2018 when the medical center opened the UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, which includes primary care, lab, pharmacy, dermatology, cardiology, and other outpatient services.

In addition to the Fort Worth expansions, UTSW has grown or announced plans to expand its core in Dallas with a new state mental health hospital, pediatric campus in conjunction with Children’s Health, a hospital operated with Texas Health in Frisco, and an expansion into Southern Dallas at the Red Bird development. UTSW’s growth in Tarrant County is another example of the medical center moving care closer to its patients.

“Many cancer patients in Tarrant and surrounding counties travel to Dallas for precision radiation therapy, which can be one of the most intensive aspects of cancer treatment,” said Dr. Jonathan Efron, executive vice president for health system affairs and a nationally recognized colorectal cancer surgeon. “As Fort Worth grows, so must the availability of skilled clinicians and radiation services close to home.”

Source: D CEO Magazine