News

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.

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.

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.

For kids in the York County area, keeping their eye on the prize of an education is key. But sometimes that can be difficult when your vision is blurry.

Family First Health and Envolve Benefit Options have teamed up with the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved to bring the Vision Van to York City and Delta this week.

“There are a lot of kids unable to afford glasses,” said Courtney Lewis, director of development and community engagement at Family First. “We have to be thinking how it affects kids’ performances when they can’t see correctly in class.”

The Vision Van is rolling into York Friday at Hannah Penn Middle School, 415 E. Boundary Ave. Children up to age 18 in York City can get their vision checked for free from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. with parental permission.

Read more from the York Dispatch.

Since our youth, we’ve been indoctrinated to eat our vegetables with dinner. Parents shared persuasive arguments about carrots aiding our eyesight and spinach making us strong, but many kids still hid Brussels sprouts in their napkins to dump elsewhere later.

It seems we haven’t changed much as adults: The Healthy York County Coalition and Healthy Adams County released a summary report of the community health needs for 2015 that found only 4 percent of York and Adams county residents consume the daily recommendation of fruits and vegetables.

That’s why Family First Health is focused in April on our “Eat Your Greens!” campaign, which encourages individuals to make fruits and vegetables part of the conversation with their doctors and dentists.

Read more from our CEO, Jenny Englerth, in this guest column published in the York Sunday News.

Family First Health Corp. has received more than $350,000 in funding for substance abuse services through the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Family First is one of five health centers in Pennsylvania to receive the funding. CEO Jenny Englerth said the money will be used to help provide routine screening to 14,000 patients served in York City and Hanover, as well as medication-assisted treatment for addiction for 400 to 500 people in the area.

Read more from the York Dispatch.

Friday brought two developments regarding the opioid and heroin epidemic in the U.S., both of which will impact Central Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released additional funding for substance-abuse services, and the Senate passed an act to enhance programs seen as critical to tackling the nation’s prescription opioid and heroin crisis.

In the midstate, two organizations have received funding to expand substance-abuse services, specifically those related to opioid use. Family First Health in York received $352,083 and Keystone Rural Health Center in Chambersburg received $352,083.

Read more from the Central Penn Business Journal.

Think of the individuals you interact with on a daily or weekly basis: Your parents, your children, your extended family. Co-workers, neighbors, fellow volunteers, friends.

Within your social circle, you can likely imagine one person who notoriously never gets sick or never goes to the doctor. Someone without health insurance. Someone who self-diagnoses with online resources. Someone without a primary care provider or medical home.

We all know we could be wiser consumers when it comes to health care.

Read more from our CEO, Jenny Englerth, in this guest column published in the York Sunday News.

Remembering more than 94,000 people who have died because of AIDS is part of educating the public on the effects of the disease.

Family First Health, WellSpan Health and York College are working together to bring the AIDS Memorial Quilt to York City this summer.

Read more from the York Dispatch.