Council proclaims September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month for El Paso Children's Hospital

The El Paso City Council proclaimed September 2026 as El Paso Children's Hospital Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, acknowledging the region’s pediatric oncology services and the Southwest University Pediatric Blood and Cancer Center’s role in providing clinical trials and specialized care.

Representative Acevedo read the proclamation describing the center as “the only certified children's oncology group center in a 270 mile radius,” and noting that the program enables many children to receive advanced protocols locally. Ali Valdispino, nursing director for the pediatric oncology unit, said the infusion center is a 24‑bed unit and that since joining Children’s Oncology Group in 2014, El Paso Children’s has diagnosed “over 1,000 new Pediatric Oncology patients.”

Valdispino thanked city leaders, hospital staff and partner organizations — including Gold Out El Paso — and introduced a patient who recently rang the remission bell. The proclamation is ceremonial recognition of the hospital’s services and local partnerships; no city budget action was taken during the meeting.