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SAN ANTONIO
MEDICINE

You Need to be Involved with CASA

By David Siegel, MD, JD, Member BCMS

I would like to talk with you, my physician colleagues, about Child not in any way have a physician-patient relationship with a child. How-
Advocates San Antonio (CASA). ever, your expertise and knowledge in the medical field will enable you to
CASA is a San Antonio nonprofit that recruits and leads VOL- be a strong advocate in promoting appropriate medical care for the child.
UNTEERS who advocate for children in Bexar County who are in In addition, we as physicians are skilled communicators. This
foster care. CASA is the organization that, through devoted adult expertise is ideal to enable you to advocate for a child in the legal and
volunteers, champions children in the legal system. CASA is the only community areas. Most importantly, we physicians have a sense of a
agency trusted to speak for these children in court. true “calling.” We know what it is to advocate for patients. This skill
would make you an ideal CASA volunteer.
How did I get involved in CASA and why are physicians Being a CASA advocate does involve a time commitment. There
ideal professionals to be involved with CASA? is an initial training period, and then ongoing involvement once you
I will definitely answer the first question and do my best to address are assigned a child as a case to manage. I admit this time commitment
the second query. I had a long career as an emergency physician in a may be something that is burdensome on top of your extremely busy
trauma center and then a second iteration as a Chief Medical Officer schedule as a clinician. I also realize this CASA involvement may be a
in a large healthcare system. After I retired from my CMO position, I better fit for physicians with set schedules, in certain less time-demand-
became a full-time medical-legal consultant. It was at this point in my ing specialties, or physicians in semi-retirement or full retirement.
career that I began looking for some volunteer organization to fulfill These facts do not eliminate any physician who has the desire to
my need to “give back” to the community. I was fortunate enough to become involved with CASA. You just need to make it a priority for
have a colleague/friend to be among the many people I spoke with you. One obvious way that any physician who feels his/her schedule
regarding volunteer efforts. does not now permit a time allocation to CASA is through a monetary
This dear colleague/friend, Kathryn Goertz, had recently complet- contribution to CASA. Any donation to CASA has the benefits of
ed a long-time commitment to CASA. When I reached out to Kath- nonprofit support. We are fortunate as physicians to be in a position
ryn, she immediately sang the praises of CASA and what they did for to donate to worthy organizations such as CASA.
children in our community. My biggest challenge was getting Kathryn
to stop advocating for CASA, as she articulately laid out for me what I will summarize my argument for physician involvement in
great things CASA does for children experiencing foster care here in CASA in the well-known SOAP format utilized by physicians:
Bexar County. I decided CASA sounded good for me. I also realized S - Many children in the foster care system in Bexar County need an
that the only way to silence Kathryn for the moment was to commit advocate to make their best interest a top priority for their benefit in
to joining up with CASA. I joined the Board of Directors of CASA a the system.
few years ago and currently serve as its Secretary. As the saying goes, I O - CASA is an organization that supports the best interest for chil-
have truly gotten more from CASA than I have put into it. dren in foster care in the community and legal system and ensures their
Having put forth my personal story about CASA, I will attempt to voice is heard.
sell you on why physicians are ideal professionals to become involved, A - It makes sense that a physician is an ideal candidate, through his/
in some way, with CASA. I know first-hand how busy we are as phy- her knowledge and experience, to volunteer for CASA and financially
sicians. I know how precious your time is, in particular when you are support CASA.
not directly involved in patient care. I also know that you, as an expe- P - Get involved as a volunteer for CASA; Donate to support CASA.
rienced medical professional, can make a real difference in a child’s
future, outside of a physician-patient relationship. Thank you, gracias, toda raba, for your support of CASA.
Traits of physician practice ideally lend themselves to physicians
being uniquely qualified candidates to work with CASA. Many of the You can get information about CASA, learn how to
children CASA serves have significant medical problems that have not join the efforts at CASA, and also how to financially
been adequately addressed. As a CASA volunteer advocate, you would support CASA at www.casa-satx.org, 210-225-7070.

34 SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • June 2025