Marion County Board of Health honors service of longtime board member
Oct. 28—FAIRMONT — Ten years ago, Brad Newbraugh joined the Marion County Board of Health out of curiosity and thought he could maybe do some good.
Humble in nature, Newbraught said history will be his only form of vindication. His colleagues however, disagree and say he was a force for good in the community.
That's why Lloyd White, recently-retired administrator of the county health department and David Whittaker, his successor, presented Newbraugh with a plaque on Wednesday dedicated to his decade of service at the Health Department, from which he recently retired.
"Great working with a crew, a group of people," Newbraugh said. "They care about public health. They care about the direction we're going into and what we need to do to achieve new goals. Constantly looking for improvement."
Newbraugh said no one thing stood out from the experience, as everything he learned while working as treasurer of the Marion County Board of Health was important.
It's a big question, which perhaps boils down to, how does something benefit public health. One challenge he brought up was disseminating accurate information about the importance of inoculation to the general public. Communication as a whole is an important theme, the health department offers resources that people need but may not be aware of. Communicating that information so people can find their way to the health resources they need is important.
Prior to joining the board, Newbraugh said he had no experience in public health at all. He learned it all while working for the board. He said the board mainly provides supervision and guidance and ensures that everyone is working as a team to accomplish the goals set up by federal and state level rules.
As treasurer, his job was more specific.
"It's been a pleasure to know Brad, he was our treasurer for many, many years until his retirement," White said. "He would always look at our finances and make sure that we weren't spending in areas that we shouldn't be spending. Made sure that we had the right balance of expenditures and revenues and those things and if there was anything that was out there, they would ask questions and make sure that our finances are in line with what we have to do in terms of state auditing."
During the pandemic, Newbraugh remembers working 12, 14 hour days, seven days a week.
"But you just do it, you know," he said. "Explain it and explain it. It's something that had to happen. Use what assets you have and try to get additional assets to get the coverage of the testing done, so the maximum number of people are exposed to testing."
He was also on the board when the health department acquired its building from the City of Fairmont, which took a $1.5 million renovation to turn it into a state of the art building that is now the department's home. That was back in 2012.
Although Whittaker didn't have the chance to work with Newbraugh when he was on the board, he said he's gotten to know Newbraugh a little bit since then. Whittaker said it was clear how dedicated Newbraugh was to the health department and to the citizens of Marion County. Newbraugh's departure will leave a void of experience behind, Whittaker said.
"Most people don't have experience when they come into the Board of Health," he said. "His experience, between the new building, the pandemic and all his endeavors the health department has been through is invaluable and it will take time for someone to gain that knowledge that Brad possesses."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
