Cancer Center and Research Institute at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital Tops Out

The Northeast Texas Cancer and Research Institute in Tyler, Texas recently topped out. A Cottonwood Development project, the 85,000-square-foot research facility is located on the CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler campus and will provide outpatient care to surrounding communities. General contractor McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. broke ground on the project in May 2021 and is expected to complete construction in September of this year.

The Northeast Texas Cancer and Research Institute will consist of specialized areas for Texas Oncology, including 30,000 square feet of clinic space for medical, radiation and gynecologic oncology services, and nearly 3,000 square feet dedicated to research. These areas will also contain three linear accelerators for radiation therapy, 52 chemotherapy infusion stations – including six allotted to research – and four private rooms, as well as pharmacy and lab services and a patient exercise area.

Within the institute, CHRISTUS Health will have a 7,500-square-foot advanced imaging center with 3T MRI, PET/CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and more. An additional 10,000 square feet of clinic space will be used to support the surgical oncology programs of Louise Herrington Cancer Center, an inpatient facility located within CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler, providing advanced, inpatient care for complex cancer patients. The project includes a 620-car parking garage.

The general contractor self-performed earthwork for the cancer center and installed all underground MEP components for the tenant spaces. This allowed McCarthy, which is also self-performing concrete for the cancer center, as well as the linear accelerator vaults, to pour the slabs-on-grade on schedule without having to go back and remove concrete for underground infrastructure.

McCarthy had two mass concrete placements in August, totaling over 2,200 CY of concrete for the linear accelerator vaults. These are concrete vaults with 6-foot-thick walls and a 6-foot-thick lid, constructed of high-density concrete. Adhering to mass concrete principles, this required the use of liquid nitrogen in the concrete mix. These vault walls were poured monolithically in a continuous pour in order not to have any joints for radiation to leak through. Challenged with soaring Texas summer temperatures, the contractor replaced all the water in the concrete mixers with ice to bring the temperature of the concrete below 75 F at point of placement.

The project team also includes Harris Craig Architects as the architect for the overall building design, and Corgan as the architect for the finish out.