New center offers help to child abuse victims

Staff at the Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital Center for Miracles had not seen their first client Monday when they ran into their first unexpected hurdle: getting the infant's primary care physician to sign off on the visit. The staff went back and forth on the phone with that doctor's office staff, explaining that they are a newly opened center working with Child Protective Services and other agencies to assess whether children are victims of abuse or neglect. "That's going to happen," said Dr. Jim Anderst, the clinic's pediatrician and a fellow in Child Abuse Pediatrics with the University of Texas Health Science Center. "The first day of doing a new clinic in anything is always tricky." The purpose of the downtown center at 315 N. San Saba, launched in part through a $1.5 million Goldsbury Foundation grant, is to provide medical and psychological assessments, offer court testimony when necessary and coordinate with the Bexar County Children's Court.

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