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YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — This isn’t York’s first wave of Haitian immigrants, but — as one measure of how much the community has grown — it is the first wave arriving to find a Haitian restaurant: Ramapou, on West Market Street, which opened in early June.

Ramapou’s owner, Joubert Fils-Aime, moved first to Miami, then New York and then Lancaster, Pa., a decade ago and speaks barely-accented English; the hostess/waitress is a new arrival who depends on Fils-Aime to translate a question from a customer about whether or not a chicken dish has all white-meat chicken.

Loucena Emile, now a community health worker with Family First Health in York, couldn’t have had that conversation in English either when she first came here in 2014 after a brief stay in Georgia, her first stop with her mother after leaving Haiti; Emile’s uncle already lived here and thought they would like the city.

“It was difficult,” Emile recalled. “I learned English in Haiti, but it’s nothing compared to the English Americans speak here.”

Emile’s uncle and other earlier immigrants helped her then; now she helps the latest wave, which — although no one knows for sure exactly how many Haitians have come recently — everyone involved agrees is growing in the wake of natural and manmade disasters in Haiti, where gangs are believed to control 80% of the country’s capital.

“We’ve seen significant increases in the number of minutes and hours that we’re using in terms of translation” services between English and Haitian Creole, said Ruth Robbins, chief program officer with York’s Community Progress Council, which connects local people with social services and is actively recruiting — and offering higher salaries to — Haitian Creole-speaking employees.

A brand new medical clinic will be open at William Penn High School in time for the start of the fall semester.

The clinic, operated by Family First Health, is part of a longstanding relationship between the nonprofit and York City schools to bring accessible healthcare to children. The two-year-long project will come to a head this summer when unused classrooms are transformed into a doctor’s office within the school, said Jenny Englerth, the president and CEO of Family First Health.

“Our focus is really in this project on improving the health of the school and everyone who is in the school every day,” Englerth said. “The school will not be a site open to the public, so that we can really zero in on focusing on improving the health of students, staff and faculty.”

The new medical site at William Penn will be comprised of five staff members focusing on comprehensive primary care and integrated behavioral health services.

Though the facility’s health providers will work with students on monitoring and improving health, it will not replace William Penn’s already established nursing staff, according to Englerth.

“There’s a whole team of great nurses who interact with students and will continue to interact with students,” she added. “We may be a next step if the school nurse believes that a student needs more intensive care or a more intensive evaluation. They can then come right over to the health center.”

With over 1,600 students at William Penn each year, additional health resources will continue to strengthen students’ relationships with wellness, food and fitness.

Additionally, having a primary care facility located within the walls of William Penn, rather than an out-of-school doctor’s office, will help limit the time that students are out of school, Englerth said.

This philosophy has already been implemented in several other York City schools, including Hannah Penn K-8 which houses a Family First Health center and organizes routine dentist visits.

“A school-based health center also helps just from that practical sense of time management in getting healthcare services to students,” Englerth said, “but having minimal disruptions causing minimal disruptions in the school day.”

Last year, several members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration visited the clinic, noting the importance of expanding healthcare access. The facility received a $2 million grant via the United Health Foundation in 2020 to help launch its programming.

“As a physician, I worked with families whose health was negatively impacted by the lack of access to health care and other essential services,” said state Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh. “This is a complex issue, and I am thrilled to be here with partners in health care, government, and education to be a part of the solution.”

Like all of Family First Health clinics, it accepts most types of insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare. No patient is ever turned away based on their inability to pay, Englerth added.

As a nonprofit, Family First Health accepts donations to continue delivering healthcare to theYork community.
The William Penn High project will cost $1 million in its first year of operations, Englerth said.

“This really sets students up for a lifetime of better health by having exposure to healthcare in a school setting,” she added. The ability to offer healthcare services directly to them in their school setting allows them to get experience thinking about how to take care of themselves and how to navigate the healthcare system — all in this protected and trusted setting of the school.”

(WHTM) — A full-service health clinic without leaving school, that’s what leaders say is coming to one Midstate high school.

This is happening at William Penn High School in York. Family First Health is building a school-based health center.

Students will be able to get their annual physicals and more, all without leaving campus.

“Acute care as well, so if somebody doesn’t feel well that day, could be an injury, could be a mental health issue or concern,” Jenny Englerth, President and CEO of Family First Health, said. “So any of those kinds of things that a family might typically take their child to, a doctor’s office for will be able to offer during the school day to all students.”

York City’s high school is about to get a school-based health center.

On Friday, Family First Health, a federally qualified health center, announced it plans to open a student-based health center at William Penn Senior High School.

The full-service primary care office will serve the school’s 1,600 students, expanding on the existing health office with student access to medical and integrated behavioral healthcare.

The health center already operates a school-based health center at Hannah Penn, a K-8 school. The new center will offer similar services found at the Hannah Penn center, including primary care, integrated behavioral health care, health and wellness coaching and mobile school dentistry.

“We know accessible healthcare provides greater opportunity for students,” said Jenny Englerth, Family First Health president and CEO. “When they can access the health care they need, students learn better, attendance rates improve, and graduation rates increase.”

Lancaster and Chambersburg also have school-based health centers.

Studies show that students who have access to school-based health centers do better in school, have higher high school graduation rates, and decreased school disciplinary issues, according to the School-Based Health Alliance.

Teenagers who are reluctant to see a doctor are more likely to get help for health issues like depression and anxiety, if they have access to a school-based health center, according to a report by KidsHealth.

“For almost 30 years we have had a longstanding relationship with Family First Health and our students have benefitted,” said Dr. Andrea Berry-Brown, Superintendent of the School District of the City of York. “We are excited because this new center at William Penn Senior High School allows us to give students access to seamless medical and behavioral health care services pre-K through 12th grade. We will reach more students and continue to show that when the community works together, it’s better for our students.”

William Penn Senior High School is ranked in the bottom 50% of all schools in Pennsylvania for overall test scores, according to US News & World Report. The school ranks 100% of its students as economically disadvantaged. It is the only high school in York.

There are about 2,500 school-based health clinics across the country.

Donations and pledges are being accepted through Family First Health to support the center at William Penn with a fundraising goal of $1.2 million.

(WHTM) — Patients at federal-qualified health centers — clinics that tend to serve those in need and those patients — don’t tend to get screened for cancer as much as other people.

But Family First Health in York says it has begun to close the gap. Family First is making a big push to make sure its clients get screened for breast cancer -cervical cancer -and colorectal cancer.

“For breast cancer and cervical cancer, we have outdone ourselves for, state of Pennsylvania average,” Clinical Quality Director Dr. Hetal Patel said. “And then the national federally qualified health center average for colorectal cancer, we did well above state average, but not the national average. And the goal is to continue on that journey.”

In 2023, Family First’s breast and cervical screening rates topped 50%. Although, the screening rate for the overall U.S. population is more like 80%.

Watch the video here.

No kid likes to get shots.

That’s something Dr. Hetal Petal has seen firsthand; from her patients and her own daughter.

“She always says ‘mommy, we can go to the doctor, but no shots,” Patel said.

That’s why Family First Health came up with a new way to teach kids about vaccines and why those shots are necessary. It’s a book called Little Heroes: Attack of the Galactic Grime. It’s an out-of-this-world story with an important earthly message.

“It’s a journey that we start – and it’s a long journey – and the book does that with all the stations,” Patel said. “We start in infancy and go all the way to 12.”

“They see these characters get these shots and realize ‘oh, they’re protected, so maybe it’s not so bad for me to get my shots and I’ll be protected, too,” said Lori Garman, manager of clinical services.

Garman and her daughter, Greta, were the creative forces behind the story.

Family First says routine vaccine visits waned during the pandemic and many are still not caught up yet. The book addresses the different types of shots, boosters and even the concept of herd immunity.

“It’s sort of like, ‘yes, we should do this so I am healthy, but I should also do this to protect everyone around me,” Patel said. “The book does a really good job of pointing that out.”

The book is available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

“We felt it was pertinent to have it in all three languages,” Garman said.

You can pick up a free copy of the book at any Family First Health location. They also have an online version, which is interactive.

You can find the online version of the book here.

You can find more vaccine resources by clicking here.

Watch the video here.