The McDonald Center is one of San Diego’s most successful drug and alcohol treatment centers. Now The McDonald Center’s future is threatened by construction plans to bring the Scripps La Jolla Hospital up to earthquake code. This has deeply upset the woman whose name the center bears.
Marianne McDonald’s life has been touched by the abuse of drugs and alcohol. In 1991, her daughter Kirstie was high on LSD when she died in the company of some friends and a loaded gun. McDonald also lost her brother, who shot himself while high on drugs.
She helped found The McDonald Center 25 years ago after experiencing the pain and loss due to addiction. In the beginning, McDonald gave Scripps Health $2 million in seed money. She has since donated a total of $3 million over the years. Her commitment and dedication to the center is evident and now, she is troubled about its future.
"I must say after 25 years I didn’t think that it would come to this end where it’s going to be torn down within two years," McDonald said.
"The McDonald Center is actually located on our property where we would be building new buildings to support the hospital. The key is that we need to build acute care hospital buildings. And this program, which we could still maintain the program, could be located in another location," said Gary Fybel, CEO of Scripps La Jolla Hospital.
There is a memorial to McDonald’s daughter, Kirstie, in the garden outside The McDonald Center. Gary Fybel said there is no guarantee that Scripps will find a new location for the drug and alcohol treatment center. Rebuilding the hospital campus and bringing it up to earthquake code is mandatory. There is a law in California that requires all public buildings to conform to earthquake code for obvious safety reasons.
Fybel admits that the success of The McDonald Center will motivate them to try and allow the drug and alcohol treatment center to continue serving the community.
"It is well-known in the community, both the recovery community, the sports network, the celebrity network," Fybel said.
McDonald is hoping and praying that the drug and alcohol treatment will continue to be a force in San Diego.
"This is death for people if they don’t seek treatment. But it is a disease like any other disease. It’s like cancer, and you’ve just got to go in and find the tools to be able to cope with it."
