As a cancer survivor, Gloria Moore said she didn’t know she’d make it this far after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma 45 years ago.

“It was a very traumatic experience to be diagnosed with cancer when you're 28 years old,” Moore said.

Like many other cancer patients in the Rio Grande Valley, Moore needed to travel out of town to find help.

“There was nowhere in the Rio Grande Valley to get treatment, and so I had no choice but to leave the Rio Grande Valley,” Moore said. “I had to be separated from my family, from my friends.”

Now, a facility providing specialized care for cancer patients is in the Valley.

The UT Health RGV Cancer & Surgery Center, located near Jackson Road and Pecan Avenue in McAllen, held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday.

The center opened in August to provide surgery, cancer therapy and outpatient care to cancer patients in the area.

The $150 million facility took more than four years to open. About 150 people are currently getting treatment at the center

“Once we have the surgery center open — radiation and imaging flowing — we are going to anticipate to see probably up to 500 patients a day flow through this building,” UT Health RGV Administrative Director of Cancer and Oncology Kimberley Elizondo said.

As a cancer survivor who needed to leave home, Moore said she feels the center offers more than treatment. It offers patients the ability to stay home near family.

“This treatment facility means the world. It means that people don't have to leave their homes,” Moore said. “They don't have to leave their loved ones, they don't have to be separated from their children.”

The center will also serve as a training ground for future doctors, medical students and nurses.

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