El Paso City Council Work Session – March 30, 2026: Emergence Health Network Annual Report and Executive Session
El Paso City Council Work Session – March 30, 2026
The El Paso City Council held a work session on Monday, March 30, 2026, from 9:04 AM to 10:31 AM in Council Chambers. Mayor Johnson presided, with Mayor Pro Tem Chavez and Representatives Maldonado Rocha, Boria Trejo, Limon, and Canales present. Representative Acevedo was excused; Representative Nino arrived at 9:06 AM, and Representative Fierro joined at 9:11 AM. The meeting featured a presentation by Emergence Health Network (EHN) on its 2025 annual report, followed by the deletion of an agenda item and an executive session on utility and property matters.
Discussion Items
Presentation by Emergence Health Network (EHN) – 2025 Annual Report
Christy Darty, CEO of EHN, presented the organization's 60th anniversary report, highlighting key collaborations and statistics:
- Demographics and Service Data: EHN conducted 12,000 mental health assessments in the county jail. Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) partners with the El Paso Police Department (EPPD) responded to over 2,000 calls in 2025 and received the Meritorious Service Award from EPPD. CIT operates 17 teams, but only responds to about 50% of calls due to manpower limits.
- Mobile Crisis Units: Three mobile crisis units (clinic on wheels) launched in 2025, used for crisis response, outreach to unhoused populations in rural areas, truancy court, and follow-ups with youth (YICOT team serves children, with a PlayStation on board).
- School-Based CIT: Unique model in Texas, partnering with EPISD, Canutillo ISD, Socorro ISD, and expanding to Fabens; also uses telehealth (CORE – Clinician Officer Remote Evaluation) for rural districts. Isleta ISD has declined participation, citing existing services. EHN provides school-based outpatient services on 20 campuses (up from 16), offering short-term care (e.g., test anxiety).
- 988 Lifeline Campaign: EHN answered the 988 lifeline locally and ran a multimedia campaign (billboards, commercials) to emphasize that 988 is for all ages.
- Partnerships: Texas Tech Dental School provided dental screenings and cleanings for 18 clients with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). Tom Lea Institute hosted a traveling exhibit, “Brushstrokes from the Front Lines,” at the veterans clinic, drawing over 300 visitors.
- Operational and Financial Updates: EHN ended 2025 with a deficit (unusual) due to a $500,000 final investment in a Disney Institute culture partnership (since 2019) and a $750,000 grant match that brought in $1.4 million. The organization holds $23 million in reserves.
- Behavioral Health East Campus: Located at Zaragoza and Edgemere, on 11.5 acres (original 10.9, same price from River Oaks). Construction contract approved by EHN board; land closing expected by May 19, 2026. The campus will include 16 adult extended observation unit (EOU) beds (48-hour), 16 adult crisis stabilization beds (up to 5 days), 16 adult diversion beds (6–12 hours), 4 children’s EOU beds, and 4 children’s crisis stabilization beds. It will also house an outpatient clinic and add 94 FTEs with a $14 million operating budget. Crisis unit funding comes from state dollars; operating funds will be sought for FY28, with potential need for council support.
- Community Needs Assessment: EHN recertified as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) in two attempts (one of only two centers in Texas to do so). Top findings: high need for behavioral health services, especially among justice-involved, IDD individuals, youth/families, and veterans; disparities related to poverty and low insurance; workforce shortages due to stagnant Medicaid rates (no increase in 15 years).
Council Comments and Questions
- Representative Fierro praised EHN’s customer service and its transformation of the Boys and Girls Club (Mine Lab).
- Representative Limon inquired about Isleta ISD’s non-participation (Darty responded that the district declined).
- Representative Chavez asked about sharing the CIT model nationally; Darty confirmed presentations at state and national conferences, noting the success depends on police leadership willing to embed social workers in patrol cars.
- Representative Nino noted District 5 grew 47% from 2010-2020 and highlighted the need for mental health services on the far east side; she confirmed the East Campus will be in her district and requested continued communication.
- Representative Canales commended EHN’s community presence at health fairs and events.
- Representative Boria Trejo reported referring young constituents to EHN services.
- Mayor Johnson asked about CIT team size (17 teams) and mobile crisis hours (24/7). Darty announced Mental Health Awareness Night on May 8, 2026 at the El Paso Chihuahuas game (EHN title sponsor).
Item 2 – City Federal Legislative Agenda A motion to delete this item from the agenda was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded, and passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Vote to Delete Agenda Item 2: Unanimous approval to remove the presentation and discussion on the city’s federal legislative agenda.
- Executive Session Action (EX1 – Texas Gas Service Interim Rate Adjustment): Council authorized the city attorney, in consultation with the city manager, to suspend the implementation of the interim rate adjustment for an additional 45 days, as permitted under Texas Utilities Code, and to take all necessary steps. The vote was unanimous.
- Executive Session Item EX2 (Real Property): No action taken.
- The work session adjourned at 10:31 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good morning, everyone. We are ready to get started. Good morning, Miss Prime. Good morning, Mayor, and good morning, everyone. This is a work session of the El Paso City Council for Monday, March 30th, 2026. It is 9 04 A.M. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in Council Chambers along with Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, Representative Maldonado Rocha, Representative Boria Trejo, Representative Limon, and Representative Canales. Representative Acevedo has been has requested to be excused from today's meeting, and Representative Nino is running a few minutes late. Mayor, we have a quorum. Okay, Representative Chavez, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Okay, Ms. Brian, let's take item agenda item number one. Yes, sir. Item number one is presentation and discussion by Emergence Health Network of their 2025 annual report on activities, collaborations, and partnerships with local entities. Good morning. Good morning. Christy Darty, CEO for Emergence. And first of all, I kind of like this city council when it's quiet like this. I said, Whoa, I keep forgetting. I was like, it's Monday. You guys are going to be on Tuesday. So first of all, thank you for letting us be part of your work session and sharing our 2025 annual report. But are are you saying it's very nice because uh representative Pierro is that's exactly right? But I'm not allowed to say so. Thank you for saying it for me. Thank you for saying it for me, representative. And congratulations on your induction to the Hall of Fame, by the way. Uh uh let's see. So how do I bring up the presentation? And for the record, Representative Nino arrived at 9 06 a.m. Okay, so what we uh as you see here today, uh we are stepping into our 60th anniversary. So you're gonna see a lot of diamonds um in our presentation today, and as we go into this year, so the organization has been through several name changes, but it's still the mission of the organization has not changed. We've grown significantly. I'm gonna talk a little bit about that. But um 60 years is pretty significant for this organization. Um next up, as we always do in our uh annual report, we like to share with you our demographics. Who are we serving as your local mental health and IDD authority? So if you look here, here's some different um numbers regarding gender, ethnicity. We try to break it down by service line, and something else we like to point out is we did 12,000 assessments in the county jail. Uh that doesn't mean we serve 12,000 people, but 12,000 individuals that were booked into the county jail were assessed for mental health needs and services. Uh we don't have demographic data for the jail. That's owned by obviously the county, but we like to keep track of what EHN is doing in both the downtown jail and the annex. Next up, this is something um that we're proud of is our crisis intervention team uh that is partnered with the El Paso Police Department, receive the uh I always say this wrong. Meritoris, there we go, award, uh service award uh at the 2025 Al Paso Police Department annual award ceremony. So this is a great um testament to the partnership between EHN and the city and what we're doing out in our community every single day. Our CIT teams are busy. They're responding to, I think the last time I talked to Chief Pacias, we're still only responding to about 50% of the calls, and that's really just because that's the manpower we have. Uh we could double our teams and still uh maybe not meet all the needs, but it's a critical service that is really helping individuals in crisis, and it was really nice for the police department to recognize that. Just to give you some data on some of our responses. So you have, as you can see, the Al Paso Police Department team is the busiest.
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