MD Anderson Tips

MD Anderson is like a small city.  My advice is to go, valet your car, and never get in it again until you are discharged.  The Rotary House is the hotel that is attached via an overhead walkway to the hospital.  It is very nice, but often tough to get reservations.  I've stayed at the Marriott Hotel at Texas Medical Center, which is very convenient, but pricier than some.  If you stay any distance at all, you are going to want to drive into the hospital (don't try to walk *anywhere* in Houston in August) — but personally I would use Uber for any transportation instead of getting lost in the quagmire that is the medical center.

MDA is a well-oiled machine.  You will be given a printed schedule of where you need to be when, and things really go smoothly most of the time.  You will probably feel overwhelmed at first — so many people, so many places to be, so much information — but they do their best to make it all understandable.  You'll be in great hands.

If you can Rotary House is on campus and will make your stay less stressful. If you are staying there you can park your car there and you will be able to walk anywhere you need to go from the hotel. As you walk in they have people that will help you get to were your appts are going to be. Make sure to have your ID number that they give you handy because you will need that to check in at each appt. It may be a little overwhelming at first but you are in great hands. Good Luck and many blessing!

Missy

Hi jc2dad.

I live in Houston so here are a few tips I can offer for your visit to MDA in Houston.

First off, if you're flying, Houston has 2 airports and the Houston Hobby Airport is much closer to the Med Center (20-30min) in relation to Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) (45min+).  If you're driving in, MDA has valet parking and if you're going to be at MDA for at least 4 hrs, it's a good idea to go ahead and valet to save yourself the walk to the parking garages.

There are quite a few hotels in the Houston Medical Center area which offer shuttles to and from the MDAnderson Campus.  There is also a hotel connected to MDA called the Rotary House.  Once you're on campus, most of the facillities and clinics are housed in that main building or in satillite buildings which are accessible via shuttles provided by MDA.  There are also a lot of friendly and helpful staff and volunteers who are happy to guide you through the extensive campus.

MDA is also close to a good amount of dining and entertainment in the area.  It's within 15min of Downtown Houston, Rice Village (5-10min) is a good place to find good food and drink and shopping.  MDA is also adjacent to Houston's Museum district which is home to an excellt Fine Arts museum (mfah.org) and Science museum (hmns.org).

Fyi, during the month of August, we have a month long event called "Houston Restaurant Weeks" where a lot of our exceptional restaurants participate fundraising for our city's food pantry.  So basically, the restaurants offer a set menu for lunch or dinner or both (usually 2 or 3 courses) for $25 – $35 and a portion of the proceeds will go to the food pantry.  It's a great opportunity to get some really good food for a reasonable price.  Check out the details here:  http://www.houstonrestaurantweeks.com

All great tips, especially Rotary House.  When I was there in 2015, MDA had an arrangement with one of the airlines–United or US Air–where airfare was slightly discounted and no change fees.  I would look into this if traveling by air.  Made it cheap and easy to change flights, which I needed to do once there because of additional appts.