County facility combines residential and recuperative care
National City, Calif. (San Diego News Online) — This is an important development for San Diego County as it will open a brand-new $29 million behavioral health center in National City. The new center will accommodate 73 residential substance use treatment beds and 16 recuperative care beds. It will become the first County location that combines both of these types of adult care in a single facility. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on September 14. The center is expected to start operating this fall.
Substance Use Residential & Treatment Services (SURTS) Center seeks to solve two interconnected problems faced by those patients who have undergone hospitalization, are being discharged from ED or face some other issues with their health care services.
First of all, the 73 residential substance use treatment beds are aimed to provide 24-hour residential care, including withdrawal management, medication, and treatment and recovery support.
The 16 additional beds are intended to accommodate individuals recovering from illnesses or injuries and lacking suitable living conditions for their continued recovery. As for recuperative care, it is often called a medical respite service as it provides temporary housing, case management, and connection to medical, behavioral, and other social services.
It should be mentioned that there are patients who might require both kinds of assistance. For example, the individual hospitalized because of overdose or injury can get temporary recuperative care along with treatment for substance use disorder.
According to the County, this facility will make it easier to make a smooth transition of patients from hospital care to residential treatment and then back into the community. About 503 patients per year will receive residential substance use treatment and 167 will benefit from recuperative care. However, some patients might need both of these services.
The facility will be managed by the New Creation Behavioral Healthcare Foundation.
Location near Paradise Valley Hospital
The National City center is located near Paradise Valley Hospital. It means that both kinds of care will be provided nearby an acute-care medical center.
It is expected that the patients will be referred from Paradise Valley Hospital and other behavioral and medical health providers.
This detail is important because of the problem that exists with respect to patients with substance use disorder. Hospitals are usually able to stabilize a condition of the person and provide some care. However, if the person needs a residential treatment, medications, case management and safe place for further recovery, it becomes a problem.
According to the County, this center is supposed to facilitate such transitions and close the gaps between various types of health care.
The project has been developed during several years
Opening of the center is the next step in the project developed during several years.
In September 2022, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of a property at 2300 East Seventh Street in National City. The property acquisition was completed in December 2022.
It consisted of two buildings covering the total area of 33,000 square feet. One of the buildings was built in 1985 while the other one was constructed in 1964. This property was used previously as a substance use treatment facility. However, it required repairs and modernizations to become active again.
In May 2024, supervisors authorized the renovations. They included replacement and upgrades of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, dormitories, offices, kitchen, and laundry.
Besides, the project included some accessibility improvements and redesign of the space to create the therapeutic atmosphere in this building.
The outdoor area has been designed with shaded spots, trellises, and garden planters. Meanwhile, indoors there have been introduced acoustic treatments and softer lighting.
All building systems are all-electric which makes possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from government buildings.
State funding helped to enlarge the project
Funding for the center has been gathered during several steps.
In October 2024, the Board of Supervisors accepted $12.4 million State Behavioral Health Bridge Housing grant and approved the additional $8 million to expand the recuperative care services. Some of this money ($1.3M) was allocated for 16 recuperative care beds and improvements of the National City SURTS property.
In May 2025, San Diego County Behavioral Health Services received $29.1 million State funding for two behavioral health projects.
The award included $21.1 million allocated for the National City facility (73 substance use treatment beds and 16 recuperative care beds). The rest of the money has been allocated for the development of a children’s crisis residential program in Kearny Mesa.
The state funding was gathered in the context of efforts to develop more facilities and supportive housing for behavioral health treatment in California.
Part of the larger County strategy
The National City center is the part of San Diego County’s large-scale plan of developing the continuum of behavioral health services starting from the crisis interventions and ending with hospital-level treatment and residential programs and community recovery supports.
Currently, County Behavioral Health Services operates 8 Crisis Stabilization Units in the area – 7 of them for adults and 1 for children and adolescents. These facilities provide short-term 24-hour crisis care intended to stabilize patients and refer them to further treatment.
East Region Crisis Stabilization Unit in El Cajon became the first facility of this kind in the East region. It is a $28 million project covering 14,000 square feet.
The County cooperates with Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center to create a Crisis Stabilization Unit located next to its ED facility thus providing additional access to individuals who face some urgent behavioral health problems.
Additionally, the County manages or funds various psychiatric facilities, including the Psychiatric Health Facility in Oceanside.
Other facilities are in development
More facilities are being planned or developed.
Firstly, the Children’s Crisis Residential Care facility is planned to be created in the Kearny Mesa area to provide the residential option or a step-down service for children with severe behavioral health crisis. It is supposed to become the first facility of this kind in the local area.
Also, there are plans for developing an Acute Psychiatric Hospital in Santee and a major Behavioral Health Wellness Campus in the Midway area.
The Midway facility is going to be built on the property of about 8.24 acres belonging to the County nearby the existing San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital. There are plans to establish a number of programs within one campus including crisis stabilization, outpatient mental health services, residential substance use treatment, rehabilitation, and peer-supported services.
In March 2026, the County received a $99.5 million state grant to support the Wellness Campus project.
Expanding services for Medi-Cal patients
The new SURTS center in National City will allocate 89 beds for Medi-Cal beneficiaries as the County continues to build the behavioral health infrastructure for its nearly 900,000 Medi-Cal patients.
For the South Bay region, it means not only adding the beds but also getting the opportunity of combining medical and behavioral health recovery within one facility.
The patient who once needed to use separately hospitals, temporary recovery facilities, and treatment for substance use disorder will be able to have a more integrated care experience.
After opening of this new center this fall, it will become another link in the behavioral health network being developed in the San Diego County.
