Expect a little construction on your next trip to Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center – Round Rock. The city is making improvements to University Boulevard, and while it may take a bit longer to get to us, we promise the care will be worth the wait.

As the City of Round Rock widens University Boulevard between the I-35 frontage road and Sunrise Boulevard, ongoing roadwork may affect which entrance you take to get into the hospital. That means you will want to give yourself a little extra time to get to your appointment.

As of May, the main entrance on University Boulevard will be closed for about 10 months while the four-lane road temporarily moves to one lane each way. But three other entrances will still be available from North Mays Street. Just follow the signs for the fastest path to your destination.

Despite all the noise and dust outside, the inside of the Cancer Center is the same as ever—calming, welcoming and providing innovations to help Central Texans access multiple facets of care from one place, close to home.

That comprehensive model matters with a diagnosis as serious as cancer: Instead of having to drive from specialist to specialist and clinic to clinic, patients can get almost everything they need in a single location—diagnostic imaging, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgical assessment, survivorship support, integrative medicine and more.

Not only does this cut down on drive time for patients, but it also helps Central Texans get quality, personalized care from doctors who see each other regularly and collaborate all day long. Oncology Clinic Director Kathy Nealis says it’s one of her favorite things about working at the center.

“I like being able to walk down the hallway and see the oncologist talking to the integrative medicine specialist,” said Nealis. “If one doctor needs to ask another specialist about something, they’ll collaborate in real-time without having to wait for an official meeting. It’s great to see that kind of teamwork because it really does make a difference for the patients.”

It’s that doctor-to-doctor information-sharing that can also connect patients, who are diagnosed with cancer, with new and exciting technologies—including one that fits over patients’ heads and emits low-intensity electric fields that work to prevent tumor cells from reproducing. The FDA approved medical device is available to patients at Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center – Round Rock.

The head-shaped device helps treat people with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that has a survival rate ranging from 6 to 22 percent. Neuro-oncologist Danijela Levacic, MD, says that when patients wear it for at least 18 hours a day some have experienced more years of life than they otherwise would have with a brain tumor.

“This device is a great example of a treatment that we can use along with chemo or radiation, or even just by itself,” she said. “It also has minimal side effects, which is another benefit.”

But aside from the advanced technologies and multidisciplinary approach, Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center – Round Rock has one more thing patients value: a calming presence. Patients can visit an onsite healing garden, various support groups, a trained social worker, or integrative medicine specialists, who provide massage therapy and acupuncture. They can also see a registered dietician, financial counselor or nurse navigator. The center aims to bring a little light to patients during even their darkest moments.

“Life changes the second someone gets a cancer diagnosis, and people don’t always feel free to express their fears and feelings to loved ones,” Nealis said. “Patients are encouraged to visit with the clinical social worker, who is excellent about normalizing cancer so that people don’t feel alone. Talking with someone who has experience in these areas can be helpful in times we want to ask ‘Why did this happen to me?’”

In addition to speaking with the center’s social worker, patients are also encouraged to maintain their hobbies if they still can—whether that’s playing music, cooking or anything else.

For more information about Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center – Round Rock, visit: https://www.bswhealth.com/rrcancer. For turn-by-turn alternate driving directions to the campus during the road construction project, visit www.bswhealth.com/roundrock.

Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of those medical centers or Baylor Scott & White Health.