The NACCHO Podcast Series

Washington, DC, April 30, 2026 —This month's podcast episode from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) includes an update on the Fiscal Year 2027 President's Budget Request to Congress, and what that proposal would mean for public health funding. While the President's Budget Request is a set of non-binding recommendations that Congress may consider, the releasee of the Request initiates the congressional budget process. Visit NACCHO Voice to read a full analysis. For weekly updates, subscribe to NACCHO's News from Washington newsletter: www.naccho.org/advocacy/news.   Later in the program (12:38), Sara Barra, Director of the Office of Preparedness and Response at the Maryland Department of Health (MDOH) and guest speaker at the 2026 Preparedness Summit, joins the podcast to discuss how the agency prioritizes preparedness efforts across Maryland, emphasizing why sustaining strong multi-sector partnerships is critical to help communities prepare for, withstand, and recover from public health emergencies. MDOH currently has 35 team members in the preparedness office, and each of the state's 24 local health departments operate with preparedness programs. Barra explains that Maryland's preparedness and response systems relies on strategic coordination and regular meetings with several local partners including public health agencies, emergency medical services, hospitals, community providers, specialty care, and law enforcement. She also describes advances and barriers with data sharing, key lessons learned in preparedness planning, and the importance of the Governor's Declaration of Preparedness. ###   About NACCHO The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the over 3,300 local governmental health departments across the country. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information, visit www.naccho.org.

On this week's NACCHO Podcast Series episode, Ian Goldstein talks with NACCHO Chief of Programs and Services Dr. Oscar Alleyne about his time in the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Emergency Operations Center. They also discuss the vital role of local health departments in the COVID-19 response. Later in the program, Ian chats with the Commissioner for Public Health for the Commonwealth of Kentucky Dr. Steven J. Stack and Public Health Director for WEDCO District Health Department, KY Dr. Crystal Miller. They discuss the Kentucky response to COVID-19 at the State and local levels, including how local health departments are working with State partners to track the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In this week's episode of Podcast from Washington, Government Affairs team members Ian Goldstein and Eli Briggs discuss the recent outbreak of Novel Coronavirus from China. They also cover this year's NACCHO 360 conference in Denver, July 7–9, and the CDC's rollout of the Active People, Health Nation Initiative, designed to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Later in the program, Emily Yox, NACCHO's program analyst for global health, sits down with America Bracho, MD, MPH, of Latino Health Access, and Ginger Lee of Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services. America discusses how she formed Latino Health Access in 1993 as one of the first place-based interventions in the United States. This program uses Promotores or community health workers, to help improve health outcomes among Latinos in Santa Ana. As the program began to grow, America partnered with Ginger and the local health department on a number of initiatives, and they continue to see improvements in areas such as diabetes, mental health, and nutrition.