Cathy Hirko sat down and talked with Jenny Englerth, CEO of Family First Health in York for this week’s edition of PA Biz Conversations. Englerth talks about the challenges that COVID-19 has affected health care in the communities Family First serves. She also touches on the organization’s future and a milestone anniversary.
Find the full article: https://www.cpbj.com/pa-biz-conversations-jenny-englerth/
I haven’t always had a green thumb. When I was in medical school and residency, I could barely keep a cactus alive. I knew the basics, namely that plants need water, soil and sunlight. During those hectic phases of my life, I seemed to always fail in providing one of those key elements.
![[Luis Garcia, M.D., with peach]](https://www.aafp.org/content/dam/AAFP/images/ann/blogs/freshperspectives/fp-garden-peach800.jpg.daijpg.380.jpg)
After residency, we purchased a new home on half an acre of land and the previous owners left a small garden behind. The vegetables were just starting to emerge when we moved in, and my wife and I delighted in discovering what we would find there. Having never done any gardening, though, we had a lot to learn and many questions: Was this growing thing a pesky weed or a desired plant? How often did we need to water, fertilize or add compost? Did we need to till the soil? How could we keep out birds and rodents?
Much like anything else, the answers to these questions came with time, trial and error. We’re now in our fifth year of gardening, and although we are still learning, we’ve come a long way from our first small plot of vegetables. We now have a small orchard with several fruit trees and dozens of berry plants. We’ve expanded the space for the vegetable garden, and we made adjustments to optimize our soil and keep everything organic. We’ve been able to produce enough fruit to freeze supplies that last us through most of the winter and to share with friends, family and coworkers.
This success led me to reflect on what I did to help these plants thrive and improve each new year. Though many factors are out of my control, adding the right nutrients at the right time or adjusting the pH of the soil slightly can make a big difference. In this process of reflection, I’ve realized that much of this hobby has had parallels to my first five years of practicing medicine. Both have required continuous learning, creating the right environment for success and having a lot of patience. Without realizing it, as I grew in these skills in my practice of medicine, I was exhibiting them in my gardening as well. As a result, gardening has served as a proving ground of testing and growing in the skills and virtues needed to be a better doctor.
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal has a philosophy that success as a leader is best achieved when one creates the right environment for others to succeed, and he draws this from his own practice of gardening.(www.forbes.com) Great leaders, he says, are more like master gardeners who can influence the ecosystem for the plants to grow. My plants need the right amount of sunlight, but some need more than others, and this determines where I plant them. They need to be watered, but too much or too little could cause harm. And they need the right soil with the right balance of organic compounds and minerals to thrive.
My patients, likewise, need the right environment to achieve lasting health. They need opportunities for exercise and healthy food. The medicines I prescribe them can help, but much of their environment is outside of my control. Working in a federally qualified health center, I’ve learned how the social determinants of health can affect up to 80% of a person’s health outcomes.(nam.edu)
Similarly, I have little control over what bugs, pests and diseases enter my garden. But with the help of YouTube and some ingenuity, I’ve been able to fend off rabbits, squirrels, birds and many other undesired pests using things like packing tape, vinegar and netting.
The challenge of improving the environments that influence the health of our patients is a monumental task, much more complex than protecting plants. There are creative ways my FQHC has begun to address some of the social determinants of health by utilizing community health workers and care coordinators to help break down the barriers surrounding access to care and health education. Although there is little I can do from an exam room to affect that social environment, I can make it a place of listening and healing. This is at the core of being a family doctor: creating an environment of trust that allows us to help patients get to the root of their health needs. Fostering those relationships takes time, but above all, it requires patience.
Plants take patience, and patience takes practice. It took four years for my peach tree to bear a substantial amount of fruit. Though they were planted years ago, my apple, plum and pear trees still need time to reach full production.
My medical director frequently reminds me that family medicine is a marathon, not a sprint. It took at least two years of practicing medicine after residency to finally feel like my relationships with patients were solidifying. Now I have seen substantial improvements in areas such as smoking cessation, lower A1c levels and maintaining blood pressure at goal. This all takes patience, and for me it has been accomplished by utilizing the seeds of motivational interviewing. Asking the right questions, and sometimes repeating them over the course of years, has helped patients make lasting change.
Success with plants doesn’t happen overnight either, and in many cases it takes years of dedication and nurturing. Further, just like with our patients, setbacks can happen. It’s always disappointing to plant something, watch it grow and see the hard work lost to infestation or infections. These are some of the most critical moments to practice patience. When everything goes as planned, patience can be easy. But when those plans are challenged and disrupted, that’s when patience can truly be tested. How many of us have felt disappointment when a patient’s diabetes suddenly gets worse, or when a patient who had been sober for years relapses?
A true test of our patience with patients is the last-minute statement as we’re about to leave the exam room: “Oh, Doc, one more thing …” It’s often in that “one more thing” that we can find, if we’ve created the right environment, the root of what’s really going on. But to cordially accept those moments necessitates patience.
Gardening is not always perfect, but with patient persistence, it can lead to beautiful things. The same is true in our practice of medicine.
One of the most emotionally difficult tasks in my garden is the annual pruning of fruit trees. Each winter, I must remove up to one-third of the branches, all of which are typically healthy and have the capacity to bear fruit. The trouble is, if I don’t prune the branches, the trees could become more susceptible to disease and the size and quantity of fruit won’t reach its potential.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that around the same time that I prune the trees, I often reflect on my own life to see what can be trimmed. I’ve learned to pay close attention to how I’m spending my time, and periodically reflect on what “extra branches” of my work and home life can be trimmed. This process of reflection has also led me to cut things out of my life that require too much emotional energy, such as limiting my time on social media. This allows me to focus on the areas of my life that will lead to greater fruit, such as spending quality time with my family. This approach has also helped me narrow my focus in my career. In the initial years after residency, I was presented with opportunities for leadership, advocacy and community committees. Over time I’ve found my strengths through writing and was appointed chief medical information officer, which would not have occurred had I held on to other roles I had been presented with. In a way, pruning can protect us from burnout by helping us focus our energy on the best fruits we can offer.
There’s something to be said about working with the earth, the soil, that keeps us grounded in reality. This is in contrast to the ways in which we distract ourselves with video games and other forms of digital entertainment that exist to help us escape our reality. By working with the soil and helping create the right environment for my plants, I cultivate something transformative in my mind that can best be described as a stimulus to feeling more human. In fact, it’s no coincidence that the world “human” derives from the Latin word “humus,” meaning earth or soil. Though gardening is a hobby for me, the practice of getting my hands dirty and working outside has given me an even greater appreciation for many of my patients who work in agriculture or other forms of hard physical labor.
Lastly, and perhaps the most obvious advantage of gardening, is its health benefits. A review of research on the benefits of gardening(pureportal.coventry.ac.uk) found that its practice increases consumption of fruit and vegetables, increases physical activity, improves mental health, reduces stress and much more. These are all things we could use as doctors. An article from The Atlantic(www.theatlantic.com) showed that doctors aren’t much better than the general public in terms of exercise and eating produce. Like most Americans, I spent most of my life occasionally eating the same types of vegetables: broccoli, carrots and green beans. Since I’ve begun growing my own food, our plates are often filled with a rainbow of colors with beets, squash and Brussels sprouts. My children have benefited as well. They enjoy going out and picking berries, carrots and tomatoes, and devouring them as soon as they’re cleaned and ready. I must say, there is nothing quite like walking outside and picking a fresh peach, strawberry or blueberry, and eating it seconds after its been harvested.
If we are to practice what we preach as physicians, there’s no better way to do this than to grow and eat our own healthy food. It’s one thing for us to tell patients “eat more vegetables,” and it’s another to share in the joy of eating healthy because we’ve experienced good, rich, healthy food that we’ve grown ourselves. Our message becomes more genuine when we eat healthy ourselves.
The sad reality is that it’s not uncommon for me to preach this message and be met with, “But I don’t like vegetables…” by many of my adult patients. I politely encourage them to try different recipes. A go-to recipe that I’ve memorized to quickly share with patients is this one for roasted broccoli,(www.foodnetwork.com) and so far it’s been met with positive reviews.
If you don’t already garden, I’d encourage you to consider it. It may seem overwhelming, but with the abundance of resources available online, starting with easy plants such as tomatoes, peppers and herbs can build confidence and give you the desire to grow more. As I’ve experienced, my hope is that gardening can help us become better doctors by helping us grow in skills and virtues that can enrich our practice as physicians, and also lead us to better health.
Luis Garcia, M.D., is a family physician in York, Pa., working at Family First Health, a federally qualified health center. He focuses on caring for the Spanish-speaking community and spending time with his wife and three daughters. His hobbies include gardening and photography.
YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — Looking to keep York County healthy, the Spanish-Multicultural Resource Center kicked off its York Healthy Neighbors mini summit on Monday.
Healthy food and drinks were available, plus blood pressure tests, and a chance to talk to health professionals.
Several businesses including Family First Health, Aetna, and Creative York also had representatives there to answer questions and hand out supplies to families.
The mini-summit runs until Wednesday afternoon. The event is set up on the sidewalk outside 426 South George Street. All visitors are asked to wear a mask.
Find the full article: https://www.abc27.com/news/local/york/summit-held-in-york-county-to-spread-healthy-living/
Downtown Inc celebrated its 20th annual Downtown First Awards this evening.
And while the annual awards ceremony was a virtual one, this year’s edition still kept the featured spotlight on downtown York and the perseverance several downtown businesses have shown over the last calendar year.
This year’s winners (in bold) and nominees are below:
The notable law firm, which employs over 100 attorneys, won this year’s “Outstanding Large Business” award.
The downtown dance institution, which once helped stage shows and supply dancers at the Valencia Ballroom, has helped teach hundreds of Yorkers and youth the ins and outs of swing, blues, and salsa. TheVictrola Dance Hall was honored with this year’s “Outstanding Small Business” award.
The intrepid pair of teenagers Arlette Morales and Tzipporah Goins won this year’s inaugural “Change Maker” Award for their work organizing one of the largest peaceful protests in downtown York earlier this year. The protest was in response to the killing of George Floyd and on-going Black Lives Matter movement.
The BBQ vendor, with a pun-tastic wise men logo, won this year’s “Outstanding New Business/Merchant” award.
2019 award winners:Downtown First Awards recognize outstanding contributors to York cityGet the York on the Move newsletter in your inbox.
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The York County Food Bank was honored with this year’s “Outstanding Nonprofit Organization.” The Food Bank has helped supply residents with groceries during the government shutdown in early 2019 and has helped organize several pop-ups, drive-thru food banks around the region in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Penn Street Art Bridge is this year’s “Better York Appell Beautification” award winner. The art bridge project began in 2017, but has recently taken flight thanks to the help and organization of local artist Jeremy “Jay Rock” Wibel and his artist collective known as “York City Bomb Squad.” The group has routinely transformed the Penn Street Art Bridge often focusing on vital social themes such as the BLM movement and a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant.
Related:Meet the artists behind some of downtown York’s murals and growing street art scene
Dr. Felicia Dennis was award this year’s “Outstanding Individual” award for her community efforts organizing several peaceful BLM protests at Penn Park and a memorial for Lillie Belle Allen, a 27-year-old who was murdered on Newberry Street in 1969.
Neil Strebig is a journalist for the York Daily Record and curator for the York on the Move newsletter. He can be reached at nstrebig@ydr.com, 717-825-6582 or via Twitter @neilStrebig.Â
Find the full article: https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2020/08/14/downtown-inc-announces-winners-downtown-first-2020-awards/3368676001/
When people get tested for COVID-19, how long results take depends on where they are processed.
Priority cases that go to the state or a health system’s labs are generally finished within a few to 48 hours. However, those labs don’t have enough capacity to handle all 22,000 tests currently being done daily in Pennsylvania.
So in Lancaster County and throughout the state, many of the tests are sent to commercial labs like Quest Diagnostics or LabCorp, which handle tests from across the nation and are getting backlogged because of outbreaks in other states.
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital is processing about 2,100 tests per week for patients needing urgent or emergency procedures and people suspected of having the coronavirus. The average turnaround time for those tests is less than a day.
LGH sends about 1,200 other tests per week to Quest, where tests results are available after four or five days.
Dr. Michael Ripchinski is chief clinical officer at LGH, which was awarded a nearly $25 million contract in May to lead local testing and contact tracing efforts. He said the general goal is to get COVID-19 test results within three days.
He believes, he said, that it’s easier to get a test here now than at any point earlier in the pandemic, and he’s “expecting that capacity to test with better turnaround times to increase, as we bring on new technologies at LGH and we look for other partners in the region.â€
He said getting test results sooner is better so people testing positive can be informed and any contacts who were potentially exposed can quickly be alerted.
The coronavirus can spread quickly — some people develop symptoms as soon as two days after being exposed — and people can spread the virus even if they don’t develop symptoms.
When Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health was awarded the contract in May, the system estimated it might eventually take as many as 800 to 1,000 tests a day across the country to manage the pandemic well.
So far, overall numbers are consistently below that estimate, although Ripchinski said the county’s numbers were in that range two days in the past week.
Overall, though, state data shows the county averaged 497 tests a day in June, 580 a day in July and 585 a day so far in August.
Ripchinski said how many tests are needed comes down to what’s happening in the community and trying to ensure that everyone who meets the medical criteria to be tested can be.
Lancaster General recently broadened those criteria a bit, with the commissioners’ approval. He also noted that the system was not given a lump sum up front from the $24.7 million contract, but will be paid for services rendered.
He also said given persistent nationwide testing shortages and delays, setting testing protocols is a balancing act “so we can ensure we don’t overwhelm the system and make turnaround times longer.â€
All three county commissioners said by email Wednesday that they are satisfied or pleased with how things are going under the contract with Lancaster General.
“Since the county does not have a public health department, without LGH stepping up, we would likely lack the local contact tracing and local testing capacity that is currently in place,†Commissioner Craig Lehman wrote.
Lancaster General has seven of the 17 COVID-19 testing sites in the county, according to an interactive map from the state health department. The other 10 sites report similar dynamics; most are sending tests to commercial labs, although UPMC Pinnacle and WellSpan Health are doing some in-house.
UPMC doesn’t report local numbers, but said the majority of its tests in central Pennsylvania go to Quest, with turnaround varying by circumstance.
WellSpan said it does 80 to 100 in-house tests a week from Lancaster County, and sends about 325 to commercial labs; depending on the reason for testing, the commercial results take one to five days, or 10 to 14 days.
State health department spokesman Nate Wardle said in an email that the state lab can handle 1,000 to 1,200 priority cases, in situations where an individual may have exposed many other people, especially in places like nursing homes or schools.
By contrast, he said, Quest can take seven days or more, “potentially up to 14,†and the department has heard that LabCorp is taking approximately four days.
Of 17 places in Lancaster County that the Pennsylvania Department of Health has identified as COVID-19 testing locations, seven are associated with Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. The remaining 10 and the information they provided on testing are as follows:
• WellSpan Health (2 sites): 80 to 100 in-house tests a week from Lancaster County; sends about 325 to commercial labs; depending on the reason for testing, the commercial results take one to five days, or 10 to 14 days.
• UPMC Lititz (2 sites): Doesn’t provide local numbers, but reported its broader system can process up to 2,000 tests per day in-house, with results within 48 hours; the majority of its tests in central Pennsylvania go to Quest, “with turnaround times dependent on priority level and volumes.â€
• CVS (2 sites): Doesn’t provide local numbers. One of its partners got backlogged, with results taking six to 10 days and sometimes longer. It has added new partners and now expects majority of results within three to seven days.
• Lancaster Health Center: Averages 56 tests a week. Uses LabCorp; results are taking 24 to 48 hours.
• Patient First: Averages 185 tests a week from Lancaster, up from 108 in June. Uses Quest, with results taking five to eight days.
• Family First Health: Averages several patients tested a week. Turnaround recently improved to three days or less.
• MedExpress: Results are taking three to five days.
Find the full article: https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/how-long-are-covid-19-test-results-taking-in-lancaster-county-a-lot-depends-on/article_0bcaf79a-db20-11ea-9d37-bfdd6ac3eed5.html
Dr. Luis Garcia
The number of global COVID-19 cases has surpassed 10 million infections, with the U.S. accounting for over 2 million of them, according to Johns Hopkins University. Across the country, the infamous invisible enemy poses a threat to all, but presents an even greater danger to our most vulnerable populations; namely, essential workers, those with underlying health issues and minority communities.
As a Primary Care Provider at Family First Health, a federally qualified healthcare center based in central Pennsylvania, I have seen a disproportionate number of coronavirus cases in Latino patients. Since launching our own testing site in May, the data we’ve gathered proves if a patient is Latino, he or she is about five times more likely to test positive for COVID-19.
This is particularly evident in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Both central Pennsylvania counties have high Latino populations that were particularly hard hit by COVID-19. U.S. Census data from 2019 details 8% of York’s population as Latino, with the same groups accounting for 11% of Lancaster. Within the City of York where the health center that I practice at is located,
Latinos represent 33.3% of the city’s population and account for 71.6% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Often, this population, including many of my own patients, work essential jobs at grocery stores, restaurants, factories, farms, in construction, sanitation, the medical field and beyond. They are essential workers who don’t have the luxury of working from home and can’t afford to leave or lose their jobs in an effort to mitigate their risk of getting sick. We are at a point when those who are keeping our country going are at the highest risk, and we’re not supporting them with necessary resources and pay.
For me, it has been no surprise to witness the higher rates of COVID in the Latino population. In particular, the Latino population is burdened with nearly a 25% poverty rate, which is compounded by little or no insurance, language barriers, poor housing and more. These chronic stressors, or social determinants of health, are some of the leading factors in a person’s ability to remain healthy. Latinos also have a significantly higher chance of suffering with chronic disease such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, all of which are thought to make a person more susceptible to COVID and its serious complications.
By industry, more than a quarter (27.3%) of Latinos employed in the U.S. work in construction, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another 23.1% work in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; 22.3% work in leisure and hospitality. All of these industries have been among the most at-risk for COVID.
In my own community, I’ve seen firsthand where several COVID cases stemmed from one high-contact facility that required people to work closely together and not abide by social distancing. While it’s laudable that our country has recognized the challenges and risks of people working in these conditions, my concern is that once the proverbial dust of COVID settles, these people will return to be the forgotten working-poor of our nation. This can be said of many of our nation’s essential workforce, which is largely made up of minorities who, though our economy was “shut down,†served as the backbone of keeping our nation afloat over the past few months.Get the Fixing York newsletter in your inbox.
As re-openings continue and, in some places, cease across the country, many employers have taken additional sanitary precautions to safeguard staff and public health. This has given some essential workers a newfound sliver of confidence in performing their jobs. But this wasn’t the case early on in the pandemic, and many of those working in essential duties who already suffer from higher health burdens have borne the brunt of COVID cases. In a local facility outbreak, as my patients have shared, it wasn’t until three weeks after the national alarm was declared in mid-March that there were safety measures placed to protect the employees. By then it was too late.
Dozens of employees were diagnosed, and one eventually died. Likewise, across the country in these types of high-contact facilities, these essential workers were denied the essential protections they needed and were treated as dispensable. As employees were beginning to become sick in one of our local outbreaks, the facility began filling those positions with temporary workers. One of those workers was my patient, who ended up getting COVID-19 and now remains unemployed.
Further, my Spanish-speaking patients are being forgotten by the tech community. The pandemic has forced medicine into telehealth, which has been a great asset to providing care at a safe distance. Yet many of my patients struggle with even the simplest telehealth platform. As an example, a patient receives a text to click on a link and sign in to his or her visit. While this might seem like an easy task for most of us, this is a hard-stop barrier for those who can’t read English or lack technological literacy.
While most persons have smartphones with cameras, few of my patients have Wi-Fi, making any video telehealth visits prone to a poor connection. In fact, only 46% of U.S. Hispanic adults access the Internet through a home broadband connection, according to the Pew Research Center, compared to 76% of whites. The technological divide toward minorities is further seen by the lack of easily being able to use language interpretation services during telehealth visits, thus limiting their access to care.
In many ways, the pandemic has been an awakening, highlighting systems of injustice that have plagued our nation for centuries. Yet, as David Shipler wrote in the national bestseller “The Working Poor,†these people who are essential to our nation and economy remain largely invisible. Prior to March of 2020, how many of us could honestly say that we considered the working conditions of those who processed the raw ingredients for a delicious meal at our favorite restaurant? What of the person who cleaned the dishes at said restaurant, or the one who harvested the lettuce that went with our meal? Despite the fact that most of my patients work in these hidden areas of our society, I count myself among the ones who did not remember them as often as I should.
The lesson here is that the working poor, these people who serve as the backbone of our economy, might be receiving a sliver of limelight in the wake of the pandemic, but when this is all over, my inclination is they will return to being invisible and forgotten.
As our country reopens, let’s not forget them. On a national level we must rally for living wages that can allow them to afford healthier lifestyles and better living conditions. We should fight for a healthcare system that has equitable access to Latinos and all poor and marginalized.
While it may seem out of our control to impact these injustices that they face, there are things we can do on the individual level to impact change. Let’s respect and honor the dignity of the working poor as humans and the integrity of their work. We can change our own behaviors and attitudes toward those who work in these areas of our society. We can look at others not as the position they work in, but as a person.
This could be as simple as being kind to the customer service agent after we’ve been on hold for a half hour or greeting the custodian in our work building by their name with a friendly “hello.†It could be leaving a tip for housekeeping the next time we stay in a hotel or supporting restaurants that provide a fair wage to their kitchen staff. When we see others as fellow humans – people – we can respect them enough to also want to protect them from the virus.
By wearing a mask and honoring physical distancing, we are protecting others from the virus. Thus, we are performing an act of charity, especially to those essential workers who have been risking themselves for months just so they can continue to support their families. My hope is that by doing this now, by being kind and charitable to the essential working poor, we won’t forget them later.
Dr. Luis Garcia joined Family First Health in 2014. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians, and FACTS, an organization to promote and educate medical professionals about fertility awareness-based methods. Learn more at FamilyFirstHealth.org.
Find the full article: https://www.ydr.com/story/opinion/2020/08/05/latinos-suffered-most-did-essential-jobs-during-pandemic-dont-forget-them/3298263001/
Due to the current situation with COVID-19, we are now offering more options for our patients to receive their care:
Lancaster Co. Resources – English & Spanish
“The CARES Act requires providers that order and/or provide testing to post the cash price of these services to their public website. The cost of receiving these services at Family First Health is as follows:
These charges are the standard prices for an uninsured patient above 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.â€
Nicole Durham, CRNP at Family First Health, has achieved the HIV Specialist credential through the American Academy of HIV Medicine.
Open to physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants working in direct clinical care, the AAHIVM HIV Specialist credential is the only one of its kind nationwide, creating a standard by which all HIV care providers should deliver quality HIV care. Attaining this credential is a way to remain current, demonstrate frontline experience, and evolve with changes in HIV technology, with discoveries of new treatments and shifts in the nation’s health care system. This credential confirms a provider’s commitment to maintaining continuing competence through ongoing learning, experience, and self-assessment.
Nicole joined Family First Health in 2013. She completed HIV training in September 2014 and started seeing patients in 2015. A nurse practitioner in the program, Durham currently cares for 100-110 individual patients, providing both HIV specific care and general primary care. She received her Bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) in 2000 and her Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) in 2013, both from York College. In 2013 she received certification as a Board Certified Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. Completing clinical rotations with the REACCH program in Harrisburg prior to her tenure at Family First Health sparked her passion for HIV care.
Durham’s philosophy regarding her care of HIV patients is as follows: “As I listen to your life story, I pass no judgements about your lifestyle. Your life and your choices are yours to make. My job is to keep you as healthy and as educated as I can while you live your best life.â€
Durham is the second provider at Family First Health to receive the HIV Specialist credential; Asceline Go, MD, Vice President of Medical Services, received this credential in 2018.
Through Family First Health’s Caring Together program, we offer a seamless system of coordinated, high-quality care for people who are HIV positive, so they can access the services they need. Interested individuals can call 717-846-6776 for more information.
Family First Health also offers free, confidential HIV testing and counseling for individuals ages 13 and older at our George Street Center, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
On June 27th Family First Health will celebrate HIV Testing Day by offering free, confidential HIV testing from 8:30 am-3:30 pm at our George Street Center in Downtown York. This is a collaborative effort between Family First Health, WellSpan Community Health Center and the York City Bureau of Health.
National HIV Testing Day is an annual campaign coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to encourage people of all ages to get tested for HIV, know their status and get linked to care and treatment.
Family First Health collaborates with WellSpan Health to provide coordinated, high-quality care for people who are HIV positive. The Caring Together program helps patients easily access the services they need.
In honor of the upcoming HIV Testing Day, one of our patients generously agreed to share their story.
How long have you been HIV-positive?
Since 2009
Why did you decide to get care?
I was in denial for about one month, thought I had the flu or just a really bad cold. I started getting really back fevers, had a terrible rash on my tongue (what I learned later was thrush), and started passing out at work. One day I felt really sick so I decided to go to the emergency room to get checked out. The Dr in the ER told me I had the virus and that if I went home that night I would die. So my choices were to go home and die or stay at the hospital to be treated- I stayed at the hospital. I was inpatient for about one month. When I was discharged I came to FFH for my outpatient medical care. Staff at FFH helped me get insurance, pay for the expensive medications, and with other resources.
What’s your advice to others who have been recently diagnosed with HIV?
Look towards the future because of new medications, we can have a future. Take your medications daily, make sure you are involved with FFH Caring Together to get support and resources.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about living with HIV/AIDS?
A lot of people still think HIV/AIDS is a death sentence, it is not anymore. People need to be educated to know it is not taboo; it is not a death sentence. People with HIV/AIDS should not loose friends over family over the disease.
What do you think needs to happen to reduce the stigma around HIV/AIDS?
Clear idea of what treatment looks like, which is taking your medication every day. Also, showing the faces the HIV/AIDS- anyone can get it.
Why should people know their status?
So they can continue to live a healthy life. If sexually active, to not pass it to others and to be safe.
How can others show their support of people living with HIV/AIDS?
Just be supportive. Be there for us and give us hope to live.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
After I was diagnosed, I felt hopeless and guilty. I blamed myself because of my behaviors and my lifestyle that most likely was the reason why I got infected. The staff at FFH helped me see I had purpose in life and gave me hope to continue to live.
