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Family First Health

A community health care center

FOX43: Experts discuss best safe sleep techniques during SIDS awareness month

YORK, Pa. — In 2020, there were 1,389 deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

“SIDS death is really unexplained and it’s really hard to find a cause—a direct cause,” said Lauren Umstead, a registered nurse with Family First Health’s nurse-family partnership program. “A lot of times it’s not suffocation, that would be like, that would be classified differently, so ultimately, they stop breathing, but the cause of what makes them stop breathing is unknown.”

SIDS mainly impacts babies under a year old.

“Most deaths occur between less than 6 months—the peak age of SIDS is between two and four months of age,” said Umstead.

The syndrome isn’t completely preventable; however, there are things that parents can do to reduce the risk.

“Sleeping alone, we say a crib, but it can be a bassinet, pack and play, crib, any firm sleeping surface alone,” said Umstead. “So not bed sharing, bed sharing increases the risk of SIDS happening. A nice firm mattress that’s not elevated, no like bumpers, or loose blankets or stuffed animals. Anything soft that could be around the baby. Breastfeeding has shown to decrease the risk of SIDS, and also living in a smoke-free home has shown to decrease SIDS.”

According to the CDC, SIDS rates have declined considerably from 130.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 38.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020.

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ABC27: Hometown Hero: Family First Health

YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — Sept. 29’s hometown heroes donated their time, tools, and skills.

Staffers with Family First Health performed free dental services for children in York. They hit the road in a mobile unit, providing cleaning, x-rays, and more outside the Community Progress Council, which hosted the dental day.

“It’s important for small children to go to the dentist for the first time by their first birthday if they possibly can, and it’s very difficult to find a dentist who can do that, our partnership with family first makes that possible for our families, President and CEO Robin Rohrbaugh said.

All the children served are enrolled in the Head Start-Early Head Start program at the Community Progress Council.

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Asceline Go, M.D., recognized as COVID-19 Hero by Central Penn Business Journal

Asceline Go, M.D., representing Family First Health, has been recognized as a “COVID-19 Hero” in the Central Penn Business Journal’s annual Health Care Hero awards.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Go has served as a primary care physician at Family First Health. “Being able to take care of patients and help them navigate their health needs has always been a priority for me,” so Dr. Go, who current serves as Vice President of Medical Services at FFH.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, her dedication to the center, its staff and patients couldn’t have been more evident. While continuing to provide compassionate care to her patients living with HIV and other family medicine patients, she took the lead in supporting staff and patients with valuable information, administering vaccines, providing vaccine education, and keeping the organization up to speed on the new scientific information related to the evolution of COVID-19.

Serving as vaccine champion, Dr. Go also went the extra mile in encouraging staff to get vaccinated. This included one-on-one conversations to discuss employees’ hesitations and questions. Never judging, she gave her complete attention to each employee and supported them in their decision regarding the vaccine.

Helping the community navigate the pandemic, Dr. Go tireless attended outreach events often providing education and administering vaccines. For example, she was at the Fourth of July vaccine event at the York Revolution baseball stadium, at the Freebird employee vaccination event in the cold and rain, and at LifePath in York, engaging with different people in all of these different environments with respect and openness.

“If we don’t take care of our neighbors, we won’t succeed in the fight against the virus,” Dr. Go said. “We have to take care of the next person. It’s us against the virus, not us against the people.”

Every day, Dr. Go exemplified the importance of following the science and provided the encouragement, humor, and support that helped Family First Health’s staff, patients, and community members navigate uncharted waters.