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Family First Health

A community health care center

York Daily Record: A new, cheaper way to get medical care in York County

Urgent centers are gaining in popularity for a number of reasons, experts say.

For one thing, they offer a place other than a hospital emergency room for patients to be treated when they can’t get in to see their own doctor, either because they can’t get an immediate appointment or because it is after hours.

A shortage of more than 20,000 primary care physicians is expected by 2020, according to the federal Health Resources & Services Administration. That could make it tougher for patients to get in to see a doctor.

The kind of  no-appointment-necessary availability that walk-in clinics offer, appeals to many millennials, who “aren’t necessarily looking for a long-term relationship with a health care provider,” said Jenny Englerth, CEO of First Family Health in York.

But a lack of a long-term relationship with a provider is seen as a problem by many.

Read more from the York Daily Record.

His Story. Her Story. Our History.

Join Family First Health in a three-day celebration of our 25 years of working with clients living with HIV/AIDS. Twelve panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display at Marketview Arts in York as a recognition of the lives we’ve lost to the disease and the work still to be done to fight it.

Family First Health has been working with York College and the IMPACT Arts and Culture Conference to bring you this event. Funding from WellSpan Health and the York County Community Foundation has made this event possible.

Check out the lineup of events.

Thursday, June 23:

A public reception will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. at York’s Central Market (across the street from Marketview Arts). Guided tours will set off from Market every 30 minutes to look at the quilt. A welcome and other prepared statements from our partners will occur at 6 p.m.

Food and drink samples will be available during the reception thanks to some of the great York restaurants and breweries including – York City Pretzel Company, Tutoni’s, Pepper’s Grille, Gift Horse Brewing Company and Liquid Hero Brewery. More food and drink options will be added as they are confirmed.

Friday, June 24: 

The quilt will be open for viewing at Marketview Arts from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Free, confidential HIV testing will be available on site.

Join us at 7 p.m. at the Strand-Capital Performing Arts Center for a free showing of the movie “Philadelphia” – one of the first films to openly discuss HIV/AIDS and LGBT issues. York poet Carla Christopher will perform a spoken word piece before the showing.

Saturday, June 25:

The quilt will be open for viewing at Marketview Arts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. HIV testing will again be available free of charge.

A ceremony is in the works at the Caring Together Serenity Garden. More details to come.

Location:

Marketview Arts, 37 W. Philadelphia St., York, Pa. 17401

Parking: 

There is metered parking available that runs through 5 p.m. Several city garages are free after 5 p.m. on weekdays and are free all day on weekends.

For more information, call Kate Harmon at 717-801-4855 or email kharmon@familyfirsthealth.org.

Riding the bus opened my eyes to others’ struggles (column)

Five of us stood there in the wind at the York City Business and Industrial Park one recent afternoon waiting. Ten minutes, 15, 30 minutes passed as some tried to make small talk. Others just stood or sat quietly on their phones or looking off into the distance.

Just waiting and planning.

And by the time the bus connection arrived a good 40 minutes later, I was just headed home after work, but the other four – they were late for work. They were going to get docked for it, too.

There were no email alerts, no updates coming in on the phones that our bus was running late. The cause: traffic in Manchester Township.

I’ve thought that I’ve had a pretty good idea about what’s going on in York from years as a reporter and editor, now as a marketing and outreach coordinator for Family First Health, and as a person who’s just often found downtown. But in the two months I’ve been riding the bus, I’ve come to see there’s a huge section of this town that we don’t notice – maybe because we’re looking ahead as we drive by and not at those just stuck waiting at each bus stop along the way.

Read more from the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

Hanover Evening Sun: Family First launches initiative to serve LGBT patients

Family First Health in Hanover has been selected as part of an initiative to provide more comprehensive care to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients.

The program, commissioned by the National Association of Community Health Centers and the Centers for Disease Control, aims to give LGBT people improved care by asking questions about sexual orientation and gender identity.

“This information just helps take better care of you,” said Karen McCraw, the director of social services for Family First Health.

Read more from The Evening Sun.

Central Penn Business Journal: Hanover medical practice collaborates to transform primary care

How would you describe yourself if you had to choose from the following: Male, female, female-to-male, male-to-female, genderqueer or an additional gender category?

If you decline to answer, provide a reason why.

These questions are among a series that a nurse practitioner within York-based Family First Health is asking every patient over the age of 13 that comes into her Hanover practice.

Read more from the Central Penn Business Journal. 

York Daily Record: Gov. Tom Wolf signs LGBT-protections orders

Gov. Tom Wolf signed two executive orders Thursday to expand non-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity for commonwealth employees under his jurisdiction.

That will have an immediate effect on the 79,000 employees under his purview and will affect “tens of thousands” of workers contracted with the state as those contracts come online, he said.

A week before the governor signed the orders, Family First Health announced its participation in a collaborative to transform primary care for LGBT patients.

Read more about it from the Daily Record/Sunday News.

York Daily Record: Helping York County kids see better — for free

Vision problems left untreated can affect a child’s overall health and learning, and Family First Health is working to make sure kids get the treatment they need — for free.

Jenny Englerth, CEO of Family First Health, said the organization is a member of the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, which put out a call asking what communities could use the service, and so Family First Health jumped on it.

“We have consistently, within our interactions with York City schools, heard a challenge around both vision screenings and then exams and getting corrective lenses,” she said.

Read more at the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

York Dispatch: Family First Health adding gender identity questions

Family First Health knows how important getting personal care is to one’s health. Different groups of people have different health issues, and making sure everyone gets the same level of care is a top priority to Family First, according to the health care provider.

Sexual identity and orientation is a very personal issue, said Karen McCraw, director of social services for Family First. It is something that could affect the quality of health care if someone decides not to disclose information.

“We don’t know how we’re doing unless we’re measuring this,” she said.

Read more from the York Dispatch.

Family First Health to participate in LGBT collaborative to “transform care”

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Family First Health to participate in LGBT collaborative to “transform care”

How a person self identifies when it comes to sexual orientation or gender identity plays an important role in life. But imagine going to your medical provider and never being asked those things about your life.

How can a provider do the best for their patients if they don’t know who they are? How comfortable would you be with forms that ask about your mother and father’s medical histories when you in fact have two mothers?

Family First Health wants to change that. The community health center is one of 10 in the nation chosen to participate in a year-long learning collaborative with the National Association of Community Health Centers and the Centers for Disease Control designed to “Transform Primary Care for LGBT People.”

“Until we ask them their sexual orientation and gender identity along with all of the other questions we ask in a medical visit, we can’t give them that quality care,” said Karen McCraw, director of social services.

The most recent statistics showed that 2.7 percent of Pennsylvania’s population is LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), but many believe the number is underreported since most people aren’t asking.

Family First Health will start with one provider in Hanover – Jennifer Fernandes. The goal is to then expand the work to the entire site, and then Family First Health’s other four sites.

Staff will start small with just asking Fernandes’ patients about their sexual orientation and gender identity and making it a part of their charts.

The end goal is better care. How can staff at any point in your visit be better equipped to meet your needs? And how does Family First Health’s paperwork and processes best reflect the work in a more inclusive way? How do we best take care of the health of LGBT people, and how do we track and measure our outcomes?

Fernandes will do national training every other week that she can bring back and teach in house.

Signs will also be going up in provider’s’ rooms with the phrase “Do ask, do tell,” letting patients know that we want to talk and have created a safe space in which to do so.

Why does it matter? Here are some facts from HealthyPeople.gov:

  • LGBT youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide.

  • LGBT youth are more likely to be homeless.

  • Lesbians are less likely to get preventive services for cancer.

  • Gay men are at higher risk of HIV and other STDs, especially among communities of color.

  • Lesbians and bisexual females are more likely to be overweight or obese

  • Transgender individuals have a high prevalence of HIV/STDs, victimization, mental health issues, and suicide and are less likely to have health insurance than heterosexual or LGBT individuals.

  • Elderly LGBT individuals face additional barriers to health because of isolation and a lack of social services and culturally competent providers.

  • LGBT populations have the highest rates of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use.

Media contact:

Kate Harmon, marketing and outreach coordinator

kharmon@familyfirsthealth.org

717-801-4855

 

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About Family First Health

Founded in 1970, York Health Corporation, now Family First Health, is a non-profit, federally qualified health center dedicated to providing a broad range of primary health, dental care and social services at its sites on South George Street in York, Hannah Penn Middle School, Lewisberry, Hanover and Gettysburg. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Family First Health offers a reduced fee program for the uninsured and accepts most other health insurances. For more information regarding the programs and services offered through Family First Health, please visit the website at www.familyfirsthealth.org. Se habla español.