The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will develop a McAllen Academic Medical Campus and its first piece is a major one.
The university is planning an Oct. 14 groundbreaking, commemorating the start of construction for a $145.7 million UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center in McAllen. It is being described as the single largest project in UTRGV’s history. The campus and its signature building will sit on Pecan Boulevard between Jackson and McColl roads. It is one of McAllen’s largest remaining vacant pieces of property.
The city of McAllen donated $1 million to help fund the project. In previous years, McAllen was largely not part of the growth of UTRGV and its School of Medicine‘s ever-expanding offerings. In more recent times, however, UTRGV has moved its main administrative offices to McAllen. Now, development of a medical campus signifies closer bonds between the regional university and Hidalgo County’s largest city.
“This research institute will have a tremendous and positive impact on the health and well-being of the entire region,” said McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos. “The City of McAllen is proud to make this donation.”
Link To MD Anderson
The Cancer and Surgery Center will encompass 100,000 square feet.
It will include the cancer center with access to specialties and clinical services in medical, radiation and surgical oncology. The center will also conduct clinical research. The center will also include outpatient surgery and imaging spaces to support full patient care. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will provide oncology advisory services for the new McAllen facility.
“This is a pivotal moment in our community to expand health care services in the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas and beyond,” said Guy Bailey, the UTRGV president. “We look forward to engaging with MD Anderson’s advisory services to develop and launch our cancer program.”
Construction of the McAllen facility is to begin in spring 2023 and finish about a year later. UTRGV School of Medicine Dean Dr. Michael Hocker said the center will provide a higher level of health care in a highly specialized medical field.
“We’ll have a center in our backyard that will provide first-rate cancer care from diagnosis through treatment,” Hocker said. “The complex will also provide more opportunities to expand the important cancer research already being conducted by our School of Medicine.”
