Modern Healthcare recently interviewed Jenny Englerth for an article focused on safety-net anxiety, which highlighted how providers serving lower-income populations are likely to face greater challenges. Englerth, who the CEO for the York-based Family First Health, a federally qualified health center serving the Adams County area, expressed similar goals as her hospital counterparts. But rural community health center margins are even slimmer than health systems’, and the years since the COVID-19 pandemic have been lean. Like WellSpan Health leaders, Englerth has been looking at technology and systems that could help her stay ahead of the curve. She’s also considering new lines of business, such as speciality care, that could generate revenue. Englerth said her goal is to maintain her organization as a fully equitable care provider for any patient, and not get reduced to a second-tier, last resort. “We don’t want to see ourselves in situations where our sites or our services become second class for people who are less advantaged. But I don’t know that we’ll be able to keep up in the way we’ve been able to keep up to date,” Englerth said. Since nearly half of Family First Health patients are on Medicaid and many more are on Medicare, a lot of what she must provide is governed by state and federal regulations. That constrains Englerth’s choices. Family First Health can’t drop certain services and must provide uncompensated care even when federal funding is flat or diminished.” Source: Modern Healthcare
