Children’s Hospital lawsuit dismissed; U.S. Rep. Escobar appointed to key committees
by January 17, 2025
This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
El Paso Children’s Hospital Wrongful Death Lawsuit Dismissed
A district judge last month dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of Ivanna Maria Saucedo against El Paso Children’s Hospital in 2020. Ivanna was 3 when she died in a coma Sept. 2, 2019, at El Paso Children’s Hospital following an emergency admission for excess fluid buildup in her brain.
Attorneys for her parents, David Edward Saucedo II and Mariana Terrazas Saucedo, alleged medical negligence, arguing the death was preventable if physicians had treated her sooner.
Judge Annabell Perez of the 41st District Court dismissed the case Dec. 19, according to a court filing. The parents still have pending lawsuits against two of the hospital’s pediatricians, Dr. Roberto Canales and Dr. Rodolfo Fierro-Stevens.
Perez sided with the hospital’s attorneys that as a contractor of the county’s public hospital district, El Paso Children’s Hospital has governmental immunity from lawsuits.
David Saucedo told El Paso Inc. he would seek an appeal.
“The hospital that claims to protect children is using a legal technicality to avoid responsibility,” he said in an email to El Paso Inc. “Parents should be alarmed that a children’s hospital might bear no responsibility for its actions, which is outrageous.”
Escobar Appointed to 2 Key Appropriations Subcommittees
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, has been appointed to two appropriations subcommittees that help oversee significant portions of federal spending in El Paso.
Escobar was named to the Appropriations Committee last week, the first El Pasoan on the influential panel in almost 30 years. This week, she was appointed to the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, and the Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
“I’m thrilled to have a direct role in funding critical components of our federal government, funding that flows to El Paso and our nation, such as crucial infrastructure needs of the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security, and more,” Escobar said in a statement Wednesday.
“The two subcommittees I join today have a significant impact on our community, and my work on these subcommittees will help prioritize El Paso’s needs as we craft our federal government’s spending bills.”
County Approves Additional Funding for Mental Health Court
The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Monday approved services for INSPIRE Specialty Court, a 12-month treatment program for people with both serious mental illness and substance use disorder. The mental health court began last year under 243rd District Judge Selena Solis.
The program is an alternative to incarceration for people who have a felony, with the goal of recovery and reducing the likelihood of recidivism, the tendency to relapse into behavior that could get them arrested again.
Commissioners court authorized the county judge to sign an agreement with Emergence Health Network to provide services to the INSPIRE participants from Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2025, in an amount not to exceed roughly $43,500. Emergence Health Network is a local organization that provides various mental health services, including working with law enforcement in crisis de-escalation.
Priority Registration Opens for Students in Closing EPISD Schools
The El Paso Independent School District has opened priority registration for students who are being displaced from their current campuses as the district prepares for its first round of school closures in the 2025-26 school year.
Priority registration ends March 31.
Parents can register their students in person at the closing school or online on the district’s website in English and Spanish.
Each closing campus has a priority registration team to support those who want to register in person, said EPISD media relations coordinator Ernie Chacon.
This district is closing eight elementary schools due to declining enrollment.
Six elementary campuses are set to close for the 2025-26 school year — Lamar, Newman, Putnam, Rivera, Rusk and Zavala.
Stanton and Travis are slated to close in the 2026-27 school year.
Students will be able to get transportation to their new school as long as it is within their current transportation zone.
EPISD published information on schools affected students can move to and its transportation zones on its website.
El Paso County Lands Grants for Immigration Related Expenses
The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Monday accepted about $2.1 million from the state for expenditures related to the arrests of migrants under Operation Lone Star, the governor’s controversial border security initiative that has deployed state law enforcement to the border.
The county initially applied for about $5 million under the grant, but then lowered the requested amount to get funding from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, which pays for court costs associated with the arrests.
Jailing immigrants arrested by the state has cost the county a loss of about $5 million during the last fiscal year – funds the county would otherwise receive from housing federal inmates instead.
Deputy County Administrator Melissa Carrillo said the county will work with the departments that were impacted to determine how to use the funds under the grant requirements.
“We projected that we were going to be down about $15 million in fiscal year 2025 from where we were in fiscal year 2022,” Carrillo said. “We’re still in fiscal year 2025 and we’re watching to see how things change.”
Carrillo said the county also received about $1.5 million to cover court costs defending the state inmates through the Texas Indigent Defense Commission.
The county had to issue an emergency declaration In July in order to qualify for Operation Lone Star grant funding. The emergency order remains in place unless the state grant requires it to be recertified.
County Looks to State Legislators to Help Address DPS High-Speed Pursuits
The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Monday voted unanimously to ask state legislators to propose changes in the Texas Department of Public Safety’s vehicle pursuit policy in light of a study that found the high-speed chases are overused and endangering the community.
The county will also share data of the vehicle pursuit study with the city in hopes that the City Council will help support the county in seeking legislative changes to the current policy.
The move comes following the release of a study that found that, over the last two years, DPS has conducted about 97% of all high-speed chases in El Paso County as part of Operation Lone Star – generally in pursuit of alleged migrant smugglers. The chases, which have recently been in more populous areas such as neighborhoods, the city center and near schools, often result in crashes, injuries and deaths.
The county also added high-speed pursuits to its Legislative Agenda Values so that the Commissioners Court can take action on bills that address the issue, including strengthening standards for initiating high-speed pursuit and alternatives to them.
The 89th session of the Texas Legislature started Tuesday and will last 140 days.
