When Tracy Sellers received a call from Kit Moncrief asking her to join a coalition of UT Southwestern supporters to help build a new Radiation Oncology facility in Fort Worth, she said yes without hesitating. For months Mrs. Sellers had watched a dear friend – a mother of three – make the exhausting drive back and forth to Dallas for breast cancer radiation treatment.

“I saw how difficult it was for her to remain strong while going through radiation and then come home to be there for her children after the long drive to and from Dallas,” Mrs. Sellers shared. “Witnessing her daily struggles made me realize just how critical it is for Fort Worth to have comprehensive cancer care, including advanced radiation therapy, right here at home. Having everything available in one location will make an enormous difference to any patient.”

Thousands of Fort Worth residents face a challenge similar to that of Mrs. Sellers’ friend. Nearly two-thirds of cancer patients require radiation therapy during their treatment – which often entails daily sessions that can last for months at a time. Long commutes create additional burdens for patients during the already intense challenge of navigating the physical, emotional, and financial strains of cancer treatment.

Seeing this glaring gap in resources, UT Southwestern announced plans last November to transform cancer care in Fort Worth with the construction of a state-of-the-art Radiation Oncology facility. Even before it was publicly announced, the project already had two enthusiastic backers as its champions, Kit Moncrief and Matt Rose. Together as Co-Chairs of UT Southwestern’s Fort Worth Expansion Steering Committee, they wasted no time raising awareness and convening peers to join their efforts, including friends like Mrs. Sellers.

Bringing nationally ranked care to a booming Fort Worth

UT Southwestern has been Fort Worth’s academic medical partner for decades. For over 25 years, UTSW has been offering cancer prevention services through Moncrief Cancer Institute, led by Director Keith Argenbright, M.D. This includes both cancer screenings and important wraparound services like fertility preservation and consultations with nutritionists, fitness trainers, social workers, and psychologists. Each year, Moncrief Cancer Institute provides over 10,000 free cancer screenings, predominantly to underserved populations that wouldn’t otherwise have access to these lifesaving services.

A timeline of UT Southwestern’s presence in Fort Worth

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“Access to cancer care can be impacted by both geographic and socioeconomic limitations. Because our cancer screening program includes mobile health clinics, we are able to bring our services to even the most underserved or rural areas, ensuring everyone receives the same preventive services regardless of their access,” said Dr. Argenbright, who is also a Professor in UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health.

Ten years ago, UT Southwestern brought cancer care services to Fort Worth, enabling patients to receive much of their cancer care close to home – including imaging services, infusion therapy, and medical oncology appointments. Ranked among the nation’s top 25 cancer centers by U.S. News & World Report, UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center is North Texas’ only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, serving as one of just 57 comprehensive cancer centers nationwide and one of only five in the entire Southwest. Since 2015, patients have been able to receive much of their cancer care close to home – with one major exception, radiation therapy. And urgency is growing.

Over the past decade, Tarrant and neighboring counties have experienced a 20% population surge, catapulting Fort Worth to the 12th largest city in the U.S. This exponential growth has highlighted a critical shortage of clinicians and specialized health care services, particularly in radiation oncology.

Addressing a critical gap in cancer care

To meet the acute and growing needs of a booming region, UT Southwestern is building a 65,000-square-foot Radiation Oncology facility that will be connected to Moncrief Cancer Institute.

The facility will be impressive, equipped with the latest and most advanced technologies – but it is what will occur within the building that makes the impact of this project so powerful.

“The opening of our Radiation Oncology facility in Fort Worth represents an important milestone in our commitment to expanding comprehensive cancer care to patients across Tarrant County and surrounding areas,” said Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern Medical Center. “The treatments that will be available here combine the latest advances in medical technology with the expertise of our dedicated clinicians, providing more convenient access to the best possible care, while advancing training and research that can help shape the future of oncology treatments.”

Led by a radiotherapy pioneer

One of the project’s leaders is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of medicine. Guiding this transformative project is Robert Timmerman, M.D., Chair of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern. A pioneer in stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SAbR) and personalized ultra-fractionated stereotactic adaptive radiation therapy (PULSAR), Dr. Timmerman has transformed the field of radiation oncology. His innovative approaches have changed the standard of care by radically reducing treatment duration while also improving outcomes.

“Historically, radiation therapy has been very inconvenient since it normally involves six to eight weeks of daily treatment,” Dr. Timmerman said. “But through our clinical research, we have discovered a way to apply treatments in a highly abbreviated form. This has been transformational for patients being treated for prostate cancer who would normally have to undergo nine weeks of treatment, as we’re now able to compress them down to five treatments total. We are truly changing the standard of radiation therapy at UT Southwestern to make it more targeted and less damaging to healthy tissue.”

Dr. Timmerman’s expertise also has revolutionized care for patients with inoperable early-stage lung cancer. When SAbR
was applied to early-stage lung cancer patients whose tumors
were often inoperable, “these patients ended up tolerating the
therapy and the tumor was eliminated in 95% of the patients,”
Dr. Timmerman said. “That is all but unheard of in radiation
oncology. It was a real revolution, convincing patients coming from great distances – including Fort Worth – to get their therapy at UT Southwestern.”

Dr. Timmerman envisions a vibrant Radiation Oncology
facility in Fort Worth that reflects the quality and innovation
synonymous with UT Southwestern.

“This will not be a satellite outpost, but a full-scale, leading-edge facility tailored to Fort Worth’s needs,” said Dr. Timmerman, whose own loyalty to Fort Worth is more than just skin-deep – he raised his children in North Tarrant County and owns a cattle ranch just south of the city. “Our specialists, including some of the best physician-scientists from around the country, will live and work in the community, ensuring care that’s both world-class and locally attuned.”

• Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration and the Charles Cameron Sprague Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science.
• Dr. Timmerman holds the Effie Marie Cain Distinguished Chair in Cancer Therapy Research.