The Audrain County Health Department recently introduced a new avenue for area residents to receive timely information on various health topics.

Healthy Bytes, a 30 to 40 minute weekly podcast, is hosted by ACHD public information officer Chris Newbrough. The podcast will cover every topic in healthcare today from topics concerning the current COVID-19 pandemic to foot care, aging and mobility, to the Women, Infants and Children’s program to communicable diseases and various other topics Audrain County residents may be dealing with on a daily basis.

“We’d love to hear from area residents on what they would like to hear on our podcast,” Newbrough added. “If it’s important to them, it’s going to be important to us.”

ACHD Administrator/CEO Craig Brace says the podcast idea is one that makes sense in this day and age. He hopes residents will use their devices and tune in.

“With a lot of people so connected to the world through their computers, phones, iPads and so on, it just seemed to be the next logical step for us to take to get important information out to our residents and, potentially, a lot further,” Brace said. “Fortunately, we’ve got Chris Newbrough on staff here at the health department and he brings over 20 years of on-air experience in interviewing and covering topics of the day through his experience and, so, it just made sense to take advantage of those talents.”

Newbrough joined the ACHD in September 2014 after over 20 years of radio and newspaper experience. He says he hopes to tap into those experiences to deliver quality, timely information to area residents on health topics important to those residents.

“I’ve interviewed everyone from sitting state governors to the five-year-old winner of a local county fair pageant, so my experience is quite varied,” Newbrough said. “I hope to be able to make it seem I’m just sitting around discussing a topic with an expert without making it seem like it’s an expert that I’m talking to.