Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
McALLEN, Texas — Texas Oncology’s new McAllen West clinic is designed to shorten the distance between Rio Grande Valley cancer patients and the testing and treatment they need, Dr. Guillermo Lazo, area medical director for the Rio Grande Valley, said during the facility’s Sept. 29 grand opening.
Lazo, a medical oncologist and hematologist, said the opening carried personal significance after years of caring for patients in the region and nearly seven years of work to complete the facility.
“I have been waiting for a long time to stand in this room — not a room like this one, but this room, in this building, on this corner, with these people,” Lazo said.
He said delays in diagnostic testing can create additional difficulties for patients already facing a cancer diagnosis. Some patients have had to travel several hours for testing or wait weeks for appointments, he said.
“The cancer does not wait for us to get organized,” Lazo said. “We are here to make that distance shorter.”
The 15,000-square-foot facility includes a PET scanner for staging, restaging and treatment-response assessments, a full clinical laboratory, 15 examination rooms, four physician offices and 20 infusion chairs, including one private infusion room.
Lazo said the laboratory will serve the new clinic and other Texas Oncology offices across the Valley, allowing some testing that previously required samples to leave the region to be performed closer to patients.
“Put it all together, and this is what it means: A patient can be diagnosed here, scanned here, have laboratory work done here, and begin treatment here — close to home,” Lazo said.
He said cancer care can involve medical oncology, surgery, radiation therapy, laboratory and pharmacy support, genetic evaluation, education, financial counseling and support groups. Texas Oncology also plans to add surgical oncology at the McAllen location, he said.
Lazo said Texas Oncology offices in the Valley have access to 65 clinical research protocols, most of them Phase III, through the US Oncology Research Network.
“Clinical research is how tomorrow’s standard of care gets built,” Lazo said. “A patient in the Valley should not have to leave the community to explore innovative therapies.”
Elizabeth Suarez, president of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, said the facility represents an investment in healthcare, the workforce and the community.
“Today for us is about so much more than an opening of a facility,” Suarez said. “It’s about more than brick and mortar. It’s about the investment you’ve made in our people.”
Cynthia Sakulenzki, president of the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also welcomed the expansion and pointed to the importance of cancer services in the region.
“We’re very, very proud of Texas Oncology, what you bring to the Valley, and the excellent services that you all provide,” Sakulenzki said.
Lazo credited Texas Oncology leadership and the McAllen team for continuing the project through planning, budgeting, the pandemic, and changing deadlines.
“This new building gives us capacity,” Lazo said, describing the opening as part of Texas Oncology’s continuing commitment to providing cancer care in the Rio Grande Valley.
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