As part of the celebration of our 25^th anniversary of our Hannah Penn Center, we would also like to celebrate Brooke Lasher, PA-C, who has hit 10 years being with our Student Based Health Center at our Hannah Penn Center. Lasher joined Family First Health in 2012 after receiving her Masters of Science in Physician’s Assistant Studies at the University of Saint Francis. We hope you enjoy learning about Brooke and her perspective on student based health.

Q: Why have you remained committed to working in student based health for 10 years now?

A: When I first joined Family First, it was more about scheduling; it just worked for my family’s schedule. But as I got here and became more engaged with the students at the school, the way we’re set up here is so that I’m through the school nurse’s station and it gives me a way to impact the youth who are here even if it wasn’t through our visits. I just love that the school nurse was working with me who’s also working with the school’s social worker, the school based counseling, and all of them coming together. I like to engage a lot with my patients and their families, and because we’re small, I am able to do that and practice the way I want to. I have patients who bring me birthday gifts, there’s one patient who says “I love you. I’ll see you later” as she’s leaving the office. I love that. I was put in this position and I fell in love with it.

Q: Why do you think school based health centers are important?

A: They’re important because the school is the hub of the community. The kids are required by law to be at the school and so by tying health care to a place that requires kids to be there, we’re making it more accessible. A lot of the kids who are at the school, their parents’ lives are so hectic, maybe they’re working two jobs, or maybe it’s a single mom who is working and has four kids, but by being here in the school, we take some of the stress away and for patients who may have social or other medical issues, there’s other resources within the school.

Q: What is some of the growth you have seen at Hannah Penn over the past 10 years?

A: The presence of behavioral health here has been huge. Just being able to meet the needs of patients beyond just a doctor visit, adding health coaching has been really cool in the last six months. It adds another layer to help meet the needs of patients. Within the past few years we’ve added community health workers who are actually able to go out into the community and there’s constant growth of each of those different units.

Q: What role do you see the Hannah Penn Center having amongst the students and community overall?

A: My hope is that through the Hannah Penn Center, we are able to provide all the same benefits that upper middle class receives with medical care and be able to bring that to a community where the financial resources are more limited. But also to provide them with health equity. We exist not only to serve the students but also for the families of the students as well.

Q: What are some success stories you’ve seen?

A: There are numerous success stories, but there’s one that comes to mind. Hannah Penn does a lot of the autistic support for the city, and there’s a good number of autistic students here. The school nurse identified one and became concerned because she saw some markings on the back of the patient’s neck and noticed some weight gain. With a lot of autistic students, they respond to using food as an incentive. Once he came in, there were some bumps in the road but we managed to find out he was pre-diabetic, and were able to get him initiated on treatment. Not only were we educating the student and the parents, but we were also educating the teachers and the support staff that we’re working with the student about what kinds of foods to have and ways to move away from food based rewards for him. In the next follow up, the student had lost like 10 pounds and the sugar numbers were normalized. The student was doing really well and the parents were excited and very pleased with the results.

Q: What is your vision for the Hannah Penn Center as a health hub for the school and for the community?

A: By developing a relationship with the students, this allows us to reach their families so then the goal is to raise up a new generation of health conscious individuals. To help raise awareness of health, healthy eating, healthy living, and healthy choices and making that the new norm.

Q: What would your message be to the families and to the students of Hannah Penn?

A: We care about you. I want them to know that we do what we do because we care and we’re here. There are different stages of engagement and health, and we understand and are willing to meet you where you’re at. If you got one part of your health you’re willing to work on but don’t want to work another, or don’t feel like you have the bandwidth to do that, that’s fine, we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere. When you’re ready to work on something else, we’re still going to be here because we care about you.

The Extra Give, which is Lancaster’s largest day of giving, is coming up on Friday, November 19^th and we’re taking some time to highlight our Columbia team members that serve that community. Say hello to two of our Columbia dental team members – Chrisiya and Donielle!

Chrisiya Ortiz | Dental Receptionist | Columbia dental center

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself
A: A few things about myself is that I love helping and caring for others which makes my job fun and keeps me busy. Getting the opportunity to help someone who’s hurting and uncomfortable or just someone who needs additional information on care and seeing the outcome after they’ve been cared for. Interacting and understanding the patients is my favorite part of the job.

Q: What’s your role at FFH and how does it allow you to serve the Columbia community?
A: My role here at Family First Health is to enroll new patients, schedule appointments and reschedule appointment when patients can’t make it into the office. My job here helps me serve the Columbia community because I’m interacting with different people in the area, learning and also understanding there needs and wants and providing the care they need.

Q: What’s one thing you love about Columbia?
A: One thing I love about Columbia is that it isn’t so rowdy and isn’t too big so most of the people we see we see often, people here in Columbia can be so sweet and loving they also enjoy interacting here with us in the office so I’m sure they enjoy stopping in to see us every now and then.

Donielle Pelen | Expanded Function Dental Assistant | Columbia dental center

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself
A: While I’m off the clinical floor I enjoy spending time with my family/friends, cooking, hiking, kayaking, and gardening just to name a few. My greatest attribute aside from work, is being a mommy.

Q: What’s your role at FFH and how does it allow you to serve the Columbia community?
A: I started working for Family First Health in 2012 as a dental assistant and blossomed throughout the years learning all I could to become an Expanded Function Dental Assistant 2 years ago. When I heard about our services moving across the river to Columbia, I was ecstatic as I am a life time resident from the area and knew the dental needs in this community. I have always enjoyed dental and restoring patients’ confidence and teaching them about their oral health. Being a life time resident makes my career even more valuable, being able to contribute to the health of my own community and restore smiles throughout the area is my favorite role. I also enjoy working with the children and giving them a positive, fun outlook at the dentist.

Q: What’s one thing you love about Columbia?
A: The river and trail, restaurants, shops, and market house are just a few new contributes to add to this special historic little town. I love Columbia and giving back, not only because it is my home town but also a tight knit community where everyone has your back. You’re either from Columbia or wish you were.

Help support the work that Chrisiya, Donielle, and the rest of our Columbia team members do every day, by making a donation on Friday, November 19^th during the Extra Give! Find more information and make a donation here.

The Extra Give, which is Lancaster’s largest day of giving, is coming up on Friday, November 19^th and we’re taking some time to highlight our Columbia team members that serve that community. Say hello to two of our Columbia medical team members – Zoey and Kim!

Zoey Parmarter | Registered Nurse | Columbia medical center

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself
A: My name is Zoey. I have been a nurse for 2 years. I’m getting married in February 2022, in Hawaii. I love to read and spend time with my family.

Q: What’s your role at FFH and how does it allow you to serve the Columbia community?
A: I started working as a nurse at the Columbia site in September. This allows me to serve the community by ensuring that patients are getting the care that they need in a timely manner.

Q: What’s one thing you love about Columbia?
A: I love that Columbia is such a small community. I feel like I am able to really get to know the patients that we serve.

Kim Wenger | Medical Receptionist | Columbia medical center

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself
A: My name is Kim Wenger, I am a medical Receptionist at the Columbia Office. I have been a part of the Columbia team for a year and a half.

Q: What’s your role at FFH and how does it allow you to serve the Columbia community?
A: Being a Medical Receptionist allows me to really get to know our patients and their families. I schedule appointments and will remind parent(s) when their child is due for a physical. I check in with some of our homebound patients just to make sure everything is okay and to share a few minutes with them.

Q: What’s one thing you love about Columbia?
A: I love the people of Columbia, the people make the town. Columbia is a small town but growing every day!!!

Help support the work that Zoey, Kim, and the rest of our Columbia team members do every day, by making a donation on Friday, November 19^th during the Extra Give! Find more information and make a donation here.

We are currently celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, which pays tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. This year FFH would like to amplify the stories of our Hispanic employees and the ways they positively impact our work and the communities we serve. We hope you enjoy hearing their stories as much as we have.

Spotlight: Luis Garcia, MD
Physician, GSC

Q: Tell us about yourself and a little bit about your Hispanic heritage
A: My name is Luis Garcia and both of my parents are from Puerto Rico.  I was born in the states and grew up in Maryland.  My first language was Spanish and I didn’t learn English until I started watching Sesame Street and going to pre-school.  My parents always took great pride in being Puerto Rican and would teach my siblings and I all the time about our customs and culture (especially our food!).  As an example, I have fond memories as a child going to parrandas during the Christmas holiday season.  This can best be described like Puerto Rican caroling, except a lot more fun.  My parents drilled in me the importance of speaking Spanish at home and to keep it up as a second language. This has been one of the greatest gifts they’ve given me.

Q: What has your career path looked like and how did you end up at FFH?
A: In high school I was fortunate to go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.  There I witnessed extreme poverty, where people literally lived on top of garbage dumps.  I was awakened to how the lack of medical care was one of the great injustices they faced.  At the age of 16 I made a commitment to help in whatever way I could to serve the Spanish community in my own home.  I completed pre-med at Franciscan University of Steubenville and ended up at Temple University in Philadelphia for medical school.  There I had my first experience working in an urban community clinic serving the Spanish speaking population.  The care and compassion that the family doctor had for the community was nothing short of inspiring.  I then went on to do medical mission trips to Ecuador which continued to form my desire to serve our community.  These experienced helped me decide that family medicine was the best career choice for me to live out this mission, and I completed my residency training at York Hospital in 2014.  I knew that there were only a handful of offices in the area that served the Spanish speaking community of York well, and after searching I felt that FFH did the best job of living this mission.  I have been here now for seven years!

Q: What is your role at FFH?
A: I’m a family physician where most of my patients are Spanish speaking, ranging from newborns to patients in their 90s.  I also am the Chief Medical Information Officer, which is a fancy way of saying that I help make our computer system meet the needs of our day to day clinical practice.

Q: How have you been able to celebrate your Hispanic heritage at FFH?
A: I always look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas time here, because we will do pot-luck luncheons and everyone always brings foods from their unique countries and cultures.  Since many of our employees are Hispanic, there is never any shortage of delicious rice and beans, pernil, and plantains.

Q: What is something you would like your coworkers and community to know about you?
A: Aside from my desire to give back to my community, my Catholic faith is what drives and motivates the work that I do.  I have a quote by Pope Francis by my desk that says “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets.” I reflect on this often and for me it is a challenge to enter into the lives of my patients to not only help deliver better health, but also give them the care, compassion, and love that they deserve.

We are currently celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, which pays tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. This year FFH would like to amplify the stories of our Hispanic employees and the ways they positively impact our work and the communities we serve. We hope you enjoy hearing their stories as much as we have.

Spotlight: Celia Iris Serrano
Lead Community Health Worker, FFH Hannah Penn K-8

Q: Tell us about yourself and a little bit about your Hispanic heritage
A: My mom, Francisca Ramirez-Arroyo, was born and raised in a small town called El Mani within Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. I was conceived there, but born in New York. Back in those days, if a daughter became pregnant out of wedlock, she brought shame and dishonor to her family. Therefore, my grandparents sent my mom to New York to live with my grandmother’s brother until she gave birth. The plan was to give me up for adoption and then send my mom back to Puerto Rico. My mom was 20 years old. She lived in NY with her uncle for a couple of months until she managed to run away. Mind you, she had nowhere to go, did not know anyone in that big city, she was several months pregnant and knew very little English. My mom was homeless for several weeks – sleeping on the streets and eating scraps from local restaurants trash. When a woman named Celia Iris found her and took her in. She provided my mom with a safe place to live, showed my mom around the city. She helped my mom apply for Medical Assistance and SNAP. She helped her find a job, setup a bank account, and ultimately helped her find her own apartment. Both my mom and Celia Iris were amazing strong women who persevered against all odds and set the mold for the person I have become.

Q: What has your career path looked like and how did you end up at FFH?
A: I have a troubled past and made a lot of bad decisions, however, I have always felt like I’ve had a guardian angel watching over me and always nudging me in the right direction. My career took off when a friend saw an article in the New York Times about a program called Wild Cat for young mothers receiving public assistance. This program offered job training, computer classes, assistance with finding childcare, interview skills, proper way to dress for an interview, and provided you with a voucher to Dress for Success. When I went in to apply for the training, the woman I met with told me that there was a current internship computer-training program that runs for 6 months and at the end of the 6 months, we will have the opportunity to interview for a corporate job within Salomon Smith Barney.  However, there was one issue; the program was already three months in. I told the woman if given the opportunity, I would catch up with the class, interview and get a job within Salomon Smith Barney. She said she could not make that decision, but if I truly wanted the opportunity, she would call the head of the program and see if she would hear me out and allow me into the program. Guess what, I finished that program, interviewed and became the Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Purchasing within Salomon Smith Barney. Throughout my years, I have worked for many Fortune 500 companies, but none has truly allowed me to help people the way Family First Health has. I heard about an open Community Health Worker position at FFH through my daughter who had also applied for the position. I read the job description and thought this it; this is what I have been looking for.

Q: What is your role at FFH?
A: I started with FFH as a Community Health Worker on 10/19/2020, and on 6/7/2021, I became Lead. As a Community Health Worker, I meet with community members and assess for social determinates of health and help connect them to affordable health care, food, medical assistance, SNAP, and also connect them with local resources for help with housing, job training, employment, etc.

Q: How have you been able to celebrate your Hispanic heritage at FFH?
A: I have been able to participate in several events and projects within the Hispanic community, which have allowed me to make connections and assist them with their immediate needs, and helped setup goals for achieving self-sufficiency. It is so humbling when you connect with a community member and are able to communicate with them in their language.

Q: What is something you would like your coworkers and community to know about you?
A: Like I said in the beginning, I have a troubled past and made a lot of bad decisions, however I have never given up, and have never allowed for anyone to use my past as a way to deter me from setting and achieving my goals. I hope that my story not only inspires others to pursue and never give-up on their dreams, but to show kindness to others, and to help one another whenever possible.

We are currently celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, which pays tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. This year FFH would like to amplify the stories of our Hispanic employees and the ways they positively impact our work and the communities we serve. We hope you enjoy hearing their stories as much as we have.

Spotlight: Merielene Siple
Medical Reception Manager, George Street Center

Q: Tell us about yourself and a little bit about your Hispanic heritage
A: My name is Merielene Siple (Merielene Hernandez Ortiz). I was born and raised in the historic town, San Germán, Puerto Rico. My mother (Fidela Ortiz Jusino) raised my two brothers (Jorge and Marcos) and me in a very humble way. As a single mother, she always worked hard and sacrificed herself to provide us with food and the basics.

I learned to appreciate everything in life no matter how simple it was. I went to public schools from elementary to high school, always exceeding the expectations and being an honor student.  This was the least that I could do to repay my mother for her sacrifices and teachings.

Q: What has your career path looked like and how did you end up at FFH?
A: I continued my education in the Interamerican University of San Germán. I started my studies, as a Register Nurse but the need to work and study at the same time did not allow me to continue in this area. Later on, I changed my major to Office Administration with a minor in math, graduating as a Cum Laude. I Continued studies towards my master’s degree (21 credits) in Business Administration which I was unable to finish due to the need of having a job. During these years, I worked as an administrative assistant for a federal program of the Puerto Rico University (since I was 18 years old). While I was taking the classes for my Master Degree, I was teaching for two years in a local institute (Instituto de Banca) and a university (Universidad del Este) to students who were pursuing an associate degree or certifications in office administration.  Recently, I started studies again toward the master’s degree in Health Administration.

After working in those two places, my career took a different path; I started working in pharmaceuticals (Bristol Myers and Johnson & Johnson) reviewing and implementing processes, ordering materials, and investigating complaints. Unfortunately, Puerto Rico was going through difficult times and most of these factories starting to migrate to other countries. These experiences helped me to grow professionally and inspired me to move out of Puerto Rico to United States (land of opportunities) late 2007. I came to York, Pennsylvania with friends and started a new life. My first job in the USA was with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Gettysburg through a temporary agency and worked there for a year.

While I was working there, my passion for helping people and staying in the medical field took me to apply to Family First Health for the Medical Record Tech. I appreciate that FFH gave me the opportunity to be part of their family.  This is how I started my journey in this country, which took me to the place that I am today.

Q: What is your role at FFH?
A: Since being at FFH, I’ve had the opportunity to move up in different positions as a Medical Reception Lead, Medical Reception Supervisor and last, Medical Reception Manager. Through the last 12 (almost 13) years, I have been acquiring the knowledge and experience to grow professionally in FFH and especially to help the patients in my community.

Q: How have you been able to celebrate your Hispanic heritage at FFH?
A: I have had the opportunity to participate in different projects and events within the Hispanic population. I consider myself a Hispanic population advocate. I am very proud of my roots and my accent. I am the chair of the translation committee at FFH. I work with all departments to make sure that our Hispanic patients receive the information in the language they understand. I am very proud of working for this organization who cares about our Hispanic population and is always looking ways for the patient to receive the care they deserve.

Q: What is something you would like your coworkers and community to know about you?
A: My journey has not been easy, I spent many nights feeling sad and missing my home and my family. My inspiration will always will be my mother, my family, my wonderful husband Joshua Siple, and my beautiful daughter Leanna Siple. When I moved here, I worked two jobs at the time and strived to survive in this country, but never give up on my dream. I hope that my story inspires other Hispanic people to continue to follow their dreams.