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.