UT Southwestern brings first-of-its-kind radiation oncology to new $177M campus in Fort Worth Medical District

FORT WORTH – Nov. 25, 2024 – To meet the growing demands for cancer treatment in Tarrant County and surrounding areas, UT Southwestern Medical Center is expanding its cancer services in the Fort Worth Medical District with construction of a new two-story Radiation Oncology campus that will house the city’s first MRI-guided precision radiation treatment.

At its recent meeting in Austin, the UT System Board of Regents approved proceeding with finalizing plans for the $177 million facility, which is projected to open in 2028. Construction should begin in early summer 2025. 

“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 Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern. “The support improves access to research-informed cancer care in Fort Worth and the surrounding region.”

Tarrant County’s booming population growth has propelled Fort Worth to become the 12th-largest city in the country. The rapid growth has generated an increased need for specialty care and access to health care technologies that are not closely available, especially in cancer care. UT Southwestern is working to address those needs.

“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 Jonathan Efron, M.D., 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.”

The new Radiation Oncology campus will bring:

• Four new linear accelerators (LINACs) to deliver precise radiation treatments to patients, with space built out to add two more as needs develop. One of the four LINACs will be equipped with MRI-guided technology – the first of its kind in Fort Worth – to facilitate treatments with unprecedented accuracy.
• Positron emission tomography (PET) equipment, critical for accurately diagnosing and evaluating tumor growth. This will be only the second of its kind in Fort Worth, providing much-needed resources for optimizing treatments for patients in the community.
• A fully equipped brachytherapy suite for facilitating prostate and gynecologic high-dose radiation (HDR) treatments, which deliver radiation more efficiently.

“The addition of these advanced radiation oncology services and therapies in Fort Worth enhances our collaborative team-based approach to care and our ability to deliver personalized, as opposed to one-size-fits-all, treatments for our patients,” Dr. Efron added. 

Radiation Oncology is an integral component of UTSW’s cancer program, which is ranked among the top 25 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. UT Southwestern cancer services include the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in North Texas and one of only 57 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation. UTSW also has the largest individual facility for radiation oncology in North Texas. The new Fort Worth campus similarly will be the largest radiation oncology facility in the area, broadening access for referring oncologists in the community.

Many cancer patients require medical/surgical evaluation and care, followed by chemotherapy and then radiation treatments. UT Southwestern has provided many of those services in Fort Worth at its Moncrief Cancer Institute, which is part of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Radiation treatments were the one missing component. This new Radiation Oncology campus will allow UT Southwestern to provide truly comprehensive cancer care in Fort Worth. It will feature a connector to UTSW’s University Hospital Hematology and Medical Oncology clinic housed within Moncrief Cancer Institute. Cancer patients are further able to participate in Moncrief’s survivorship program, which includes one-on-one consultations with a specialized fitness trainer, dietitian, genetic counselor, social worker, physician assistant, and clinical psychologist – services specially designed to help survivors develop a healthy lifestyle and reduce their future risk of cancer.

Beyond cancer services, UT Southwestern’s growing presence in Fort Worth includes the nearby UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center. This outpatient facility offers primary care and lab services, an onsite retail pharmacy, as well as specialty care clinics for cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology and endocrine surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology (Ear-Nose-Throat), rheumatology, and urology. In spring 2025, expanded imaging services will also be available within the Medical Center.

“As we complete this critical step to provide comprehensive cancer care in Fort Worth, our broader vision includes increasing access to more types of specialized care and continuing to deliver on our promise to forge new medical breakthroughs through research,” said Dr. Efron.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Charles Cameron Sprague Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science and the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration.

Brief history of UTSW’s Fort Worth presence

• 1999: Moncrief Cancer Institute becomes a vital part of UT Southwestern Medical Center in its mission to reduce the burden of cancer in North Texas. Today, Moncrief Cancer Institute provides more than 10,000 free cancer screenings to medically underserved communities annually, as well as survivorship services to patients and families.
• 2015: UTSW brings its cancer center to Fort Worth, led by a multidisciplinary team of medical oncologists and other experts. UTSW patients are able to receive much of their cancer care in Fort Worth, with one major exception – radiation therapy.
• 2017: UTSW dedicates the Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, a 110,000-square-foot outpatient facility. Over five years, UTSW expanded specialty care in Fort Worth, offering cardiology, ophthalmology, and urology services, laying the groundwork for future clinical growth beyond cancer care.
• 2028: Scheduled opening of the new Radiation Oncology Fort Worth campus.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center   

UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 24 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 3,200 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 120,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5 million outpatient visits a year.