Valley remembers Dr. James West, founding medical director of the Betty Ford Center

Dr. James Ward West was a man who watched history in the making and stood at the cutting edge of medicine. Family and friends celebrated his life of 98 years at Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert on Saturday.

Bill West says his father, known as Jim, always brought his “A” game. He enjoyed hitting the links and playing his banjo. West was a physician who loved all that he treated.

West pioneered substance-abuse programs and was named founding medical director of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage.

“Jim had a way of making everything a teaching way. It was not about him, it was about others,” said John Schwarzlose, the CEO of the Betty Ford Center.

Like the former First Lady, the doctor was also a recovering alcoholic. Mrs. Ford once wrote she found a healer, a teacher and a friend in Dr. West. Schwarzlose says many patients felt the same.

“Jim’s attitude was never give up, you never know when someone might get well,” he said.

West worked at the Betty Ford Center until his retirement in 2007. The center has helped more than 99,000 patients in recovery in the past 30 years.

“It is a gem in our valley. I think people like Dr. West and Mrs. Ford deserve all the credit for bringing a world renown facility to the desert,” said Rep. Mary Bono Mack.

The center hopes to keep that legacy alive.

“We want to honor him like Mrs. Ford by keeping the principles they established,” said Schwarzlose.