San Diego County will soon gain 89 beds for substance use treatment with the rebirth of a pair of buildings it acquired in 2022 from Volunteers of America Inc.
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The organization ran a 120-bed rehabilitation program in the pair of buildings on East 7th Street in National City, but ceased operation after an audit showed systematic misuse of county funds.
After initially demanding a $6.5 million repayment, the county agreed to reduce that amount by receiving the properties in lieu of cash.
Renamed the Substance Use Residential & Treatment Services facility, extensive renovation of the buildings began in 2025 with $21 million in state Prop. 1 funding from the $6.4 billion referendum that voters approved in 2024.
The project’s total cost came in at $29 million. In October, the facility is expected to begin admitting clients. There are 16 beds for recuperative care and 73 residential treatment beds for those with mental health and substance use disorders.
It is the first time that the county has opened a facility that allows the treatment of life-threatening addiction and residential sober living under the “harm reduction” model which includes medication-assisted addiction treatment.
Dr. Nicole Esposito, the county’s chief population health officer, said that while the facility will offer withdrawal management services under the supervision of medical professionals, not all undergoing substance use treatment will need to take that route. Stimulants, such as methamphetamine and cocaine, do not carry the same potentially life-threatening risk of seizure and other complications as depressants such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates and opioids.
“Some may have symptoms of withdrawal, but they don’t need medical oversight,” Esposito said. “We are able to handle different intensity levels in one location.”
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Clients will be housed in rooms with three or four beds, depending on the type of care they are receiving. There are bright rooms for group therapy and a quiet room specially built to offer an oasis of silence to anyone who needs it.
A courtyard offers outdoor meditation space and, nearby, a dining hall with indoor and outdoor eating spaces and a commercial-grade kitchen able to meet individual food sensitivities and preferences.
The county hired a private contractor, New Creation Behavioral Healthcare Foundation, to run the center. Michael DeWees, a New Creation executive, said that while each client’s stay is determined by their specific needs, residency typically ranges from 30 to 90 days.
“While they are here, the goal is that they’re having group therapy, individual therapy … they’re getting answers that they may not have been exposed to before,” DeWees said. “We’re setting a stage for them to be as welcomed as possible, and they stay as long as they need to.”
Esposito added that when it is time to be discharged, the county works to find a new place to reside. Many will live with family members after they leave, but some will have nowhere to call home. Because the programs offered at the facility are voluntary, even if they are undertaken to comply with a general court order to enroll in a treatment program, it is ultimately up to each individual where they go after they have finished their course of therapy.
“The county has invested heavily in recovery residences,” Esposito said. “The current way they’re structured is our outpatient program has funds that they can administer to link somebody to a recovery residence which is also sometimes called sober living.”
Overall, the facility expects to serve between 70 and 170 clients undergoing recuperative care and about 500 per year in residential treatment for substance use.
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