UT Southwestern will establish a new campus in Fort Worth at the site of the unfinished former Victory Healthcare Center.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents on Thursday approved establishment of the UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, made possible by a $25 million commitment from W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr.
The first building on the 6.3-acre site, located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Main Street, which was originally under construction by Victory Healthcare. The shell of that building under construction when the parent company filed for bankruptcy. The site is now expected to be completed in September 2016 and become a multidisciplinary outpatient facility.
“My dad would be pleased that the Moncrief Radiation Center that he created in Fort Worth years ago has now evolved into UT South western’s plan for a major clinic in Fort Worth to help take care of the medical needs of the citizens of Fort Worth and North Texas,” said W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr., president of the William A. and Elizabeth B. Moncrief Foundation. “UT Southwestern is known worldwide as a premier academic medical center that is fundamentally changing medicine through excellent clinical care, groundbreaking research, and the outstanding education it provides the next generation of physicians and caregivers.”
In May, UT Southwestern opened facilities within the Moncrief Cancer Institute to provide access to the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center for residents of Tarrant and 10 surrounding counties. This facility includes exam space, state-of-the-art imaging capabilities, on-site lab and pharmacy services, and 14 all-private infusion rooms for chemotherapy – which was a first for Fort Worth, according to UT Southwestern officials.
Over the years, the Moncrief family has provided nearly $14 million from the William A. and Elizabeth B. Moncrief Foundation and from Tex Moncrief in direct support of UT Southwestern programs at its Dallas campus, as well as $75 million in funds given to the Moncrief Cancer Foundation in support of the UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth, according to a news release.
“The UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center recognizes the long-standing support and vision of the Moncrief family, which has enabled our growing clinical presence in Fort Worth,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern in a news release. “In the years ahead, their remarkable generosity will support the development of a multidisciplinary outpatient facility programmed specifically to meet the medical needs of the area. We are delighted and privileged to be a part of the growing Fort Worth community.”
The campus will encompass the newly acquired property at Pennsylvania and S. Main streets and the facility to be built there and the Moncrief Cancer Institute, located on a nearby 3.4-acre site at 400 W. Magnolia Ave. The latter Moncrief Cancer Institute supports North Texas cancer survivors, by focusing on prevention, research, and other programs.
With the popularity of the Near Southside, businesses and residents have been seeking locations outside of the Fairmount and West Magnolia corridors. As a result, some businesses and residential developments have started eyeing the South Main area. At the same time, the city has committed to infrastructure improvements to the area.
The Victory Healthcare site – now being taken over by UT Southwestern – along with the 227-unit HighPoint apartment development under construction onto the façade of the historic Coca-Cola building are viewed as the two anchor projects of the South Main redevelopment.
Woodlands-based Victory Healthcare, the former tenant of the Main Street and Pennsylvania site, filed for Chapter 11 protection in U .S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth on June 12.
“One of my top priorities as Mayor has always been the health and well-being of our citizens,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. “I’m delighted that UT Southwestern is expanding in Fort Worth, bringing even greater depth and dimension to the medical services available here. The Moncrief family is much more than a benefactor to this city. They have truly changed the landscape.”
Dee J. Kelly, Sr., founding partner of Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, who serves on the board of directors of the Moncrief Cancer Foundation, noted, “This fulfills a lifelong effort by Tex to honor his father by enabling UT Southwestern Medical Center to construct and operate a clinic in Fort Worth that will provide medical services that are innovative and unique, and will directly benefit the citizens of our community. This new outpatient facility builds upon and works closely with UT Southwestern’s Moncrief Cancer Institute to offer additional and complementary clinical services.”