Art and Medicine

For Dr. Jeffrey Kass, the intersection of art, medicine and philanthropy has always seemed the most natural thing in the world. The retired radiologist played in a rock band as a teen and majored in art history at Harvard, but with both a father and a brother who were physicians, it’s no surprise that medicine would be his career. 

Raised in San Antonio, the fifth-generation Texan recalls the significant role charity played in his family as well. His parents were supporters of the McKnay Art Museum, and his mother was on the board of the local humane society. His father made house calls and waived his fees for those in need. And as a teen, Kass kept a bag of dog food in his car to help when he saw stray animals in need. 

“That’s where it started,” he says. “My father and mother were charitable, and that’s where I learned.”

So when he began thinking about ways to give back, it was only natural that he would think about the community he has called home since 2004. He established robust charitable funds through the Montgomery County Community Foundation – one to support dog rescue work and one that provides assistance to indigent elderly in need. 

But he wanted to do more and recalled his long association with St. Luke’s Health. As a young doctor he trained at Baylor St. Luke’s in the Texas Medical Center. And as a resident of The Woodlands, he considers The Woodlands Hospital his community hospital. It was an incident in 2020, however, that cemented his decision to make a gift.

The 72-year-old Kass has asthma and volunteers at an elder care home but was denied the vaccine by another health system.

“I could not believe it, so I just drove over to Lakeside Hospital and the administrator saw me in line and I said ‘please, I need the vaccination,’” he recalls. “And they just said of course. I was just so grateful that somebody would show some compassion and give me the vaccination,” he says.

His gratitude led the art collector to donate a Marc Chagall lithograph to the hospital’s imaging center.  Kass says the gift of The Sorrel Horse makes perfect sense for a radiologist who has spent a lifetime looking at images. 

“Obviously, I have a background in art history,” he says. “I’ve been collecting art ever since I got out of college –for decades. And I have quite a collection. I thought it was time to give something back. And as a radiologist, what better gift than a piece of art? I think it’s absolutely, perfectly appropriate that this first piece of art, this Chagall, will be in the breast center at St. Luke’s. To me that will last forever, it’s enduring.”