Emergence Health Network outlines East Campus plan, asks local officials to help secure operating funds
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Summary
Emergence Health Network presented its 2025 annual report and detailed plans for a new behavioral-health East Campus near Edgemere and Zaragoza (about 11.5 acres), saying construction is estimated at about $47 million and annual operating costs about $14 million; EHN asked local officials for support to secure operating funding in upcoming legislative cycles.
Emergence Health Network (EHN) told the El Paso County Commissioners Court on March 30 that it is moving forward on a planned behavioral-health East Campus intended to extend crisis and outpatient services farther east in the county.
Christy Daugherty, EHN chief executive officer (speaker 32), presented the organization's 2025 annual report and described service expansions launched in 2025, including mobile crisis units, school-based Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) services and a youth mobile crisis outreach team. She said EHN served nearly 24,000 people in FY25 across behavioral-health and crisis programs and highlighted partnerships with police, school districts and Texas Tech Health Sciences for specialty services.
On the capital plan, Daugherty said EHN is under contract to acquire roughly 11.5 acres near the corner of Edgemere and Zaragoza and that the board has approved moving forward with purchase and construction. "It's kind of a it's wide in the front and kinda goes back a little bit to narrow," she said, describing the site. Daugherty told the court the construction contract was approved by EHN's board and that the project is budgeted at about $47,000,000 in construction costs; she added that the operating budget for the campus was estimated at about $14,000,000 annually. "That does not include the $14,000,000 for operating," Daugherty said.
Daugherty cautioned that the operating funds were not guaranteed and that EHN would seek to move the $14,000,000 request into its general contract rather than leave it as an exceptional item requiring periodic reauthorization. "One of the asks so that I will be asking for from local officials is as we move into the next legislative session, that 14,000,000 that we were asked to prepare a budget for is not guaranteed as of yet," she said. The EHN board asked the county and regional partners for help ensuring operating dollars are secured ahead of construction so the facility will be staffing-ready when beds come online.
Daugherty also described other program growth: EHN unveiled three mobile crisis units and expanded school-based mental-health staffing from 16 to 20 campuses in 2025, and launched a youth mobile crisis outreach team that connected more than 200 children to services during its pilot year. She said EHN expects to add 94 FTEs for the new campus and estimated an operating budget of roughly $14 million separate from construction costs.
County officials thanked EHN for the presentation and noted the project would be tracked as it moves through land closing, state contract approvals and construction procurement. EHN said the property closing was expected by mid-May and a groundbreaking anticipated in mid-summer, pending final HHSC contract approvals.
The presentation identifies a large regional investment in behavioral-health capacity, with the key outstanding issue being how recurring operating costs will be secured.
