MD Anderson Cancer Center cut the ribbon Thursday on a 45,113-square-foot diagnostic imaging clinic at 21614 State Highway 249, which the institution calls its largest diagnostic imaging site.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the formal debut of a facility designed to serve suburban communities surrounding Tomball, Cypress, Louetta, and Northwest Houston, according to MD Anderson. As Community Impact reported, Habib F. Tannir, vice president of diagnostic operations at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, helped mark the opening of what the outlet describes as the institution's second Northwest Houston location.
The site includes three MRI scanners, CT and PET scanners, ultrasound mammography screening and diagnostic equipment, and machines with artificial intelligence capabilities, per the same account. Diagnostic imaging services are available to current patients, people who believe they may have cancer, those with a confirmed diagnosis, and women needing breast evaluations or breast cancer screenings, according to the MD Anderson website cited in that reporting.
A $25.7 Million Bet on the Suburbs
Project filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation estimate the renovation and buildout cost $25.7 million, with Houston-based architectural firm Johnston, LLC leading the design. The project includes a renovation and buildout for a diagnostic imaging facility and breast center.
MD Anderson's Northwest Houston presence includes a Louetta Road location. Community Impact reported that the first phase of renovations there was completed in December 2023. That Louetta Road location provides outpatient surgical care and short stays up to 48 hours for breast, gynecologic, melanoma, and urologic cancers, giving the new Highway 249 clinic a complementary role rather than a standalone one.
MD Anderson has locations in Sugar Land, West Houston, League City, and The Woodlands. The Linbeck Group worked on MD Anderson's West Houston ambulatory care facility. Regional imaging centers bring diagnostic services closer to suburban communities.
Texas' Cancer Burden
The expansion arrives as Texas grapples with a heavy cancer burden. The state estimated 166,760 new cancer cases and 50,980 deaths in Texas in 2023, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers are among the most common cancer types in Texas.
Those gaps matter because early detection has driven measurable gains in survival. The American Cancer Society's 2026 statistics report found five-year relative survival rates across all cancer diagnoses reached a record 70% for 2015–2021 diagnoses, up from 63% in the mid-1990s.
Blood Donations at the New Clinic
MD Anderson transfuses more blood than any other institution in the United States and continually needs donations, according to Community Impact's reporting on the new center. The Highway 249 clinic includes a dedicated blood donor center in its lobby, per MD Anderson.
The Highway 249 opening adds to MD Anderson's Houston presence. Whether patient volume at the new Northwest Houston site will justify further suburban expansion remains to be seen.
