Betty Ford Center
The Betty Ford Center is a non-profit, separately licensed residential treatment center for persons with substance dependence in Rancho Mirage, California. It offers inpatient, outpatient, and residential day treatment for alcohol and other drug addictions, as well as prevention and education programs for family and children. The Betty Ford Center, which is adjacent to Eisenhower Medical Center but is under a separate license to practice, has 100 inpatient beds available on their campus and additional lodging for 84 clients in the Residential Day Treatment program. The Betty Ford Center opened on October 4, 1982.
In 2015, the Betty Ford Center opened an outpatient addiction treatment clinic in West Los Angeles.History
The Center was co-founded by former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford, Leonard Firestone and Dr. James West in 1982. West also served as the Betty Ford Center's first medical director from 1982 until 1989. He left that position to become the Betty Ford Center's director of outpatient services.
Betty Ford's decision to undertake such a project followed on the heels of her own battle with alcohol dependence and diazepam addiction and release from the Long Beach Naval Hospital.
Betty Ford Center merged with Hazelden Foundation on February 10, 2014, to create the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
