DECATUR - The Macon County Health Department welcomed two new faces to its leadership team this month.

Longtime employee Diane Johner, former director of health promotion, retired Oct. 1, along with Charles Tribout, director of environmental health, and Steve Bertsch, assistant director.

With the retirement of the directors pending, Julie Aubert, the department's assistant administrator, said she and Executive Director Jerry Andrews identified current employees who could step forward to take their spots.

"We're thrilled to have good people on staff that we can promote internally," she said. "And with all the retirements, it's very important to have good people in the wings waiting."

They selected Kathy Wade to take over for Tribout and Bertsch as the new director of environmental health; and Brandi Binkley to take Johner's spot.

"I had my eye on these two for a while, and they don't even know it," Aubert said.

Wade, formerly a part-time sanitarian and lab director for the health department, said she is working to move into the new position and complete the tasks that must be done before the end of the year.

"We lost a lot of years of experience down there," she said. "So it's trying to make up, make everybody become more of a team player and really rely on everybody else's strengths."

Wade said she would like to make her department more readily accessible to the community and increase community awareness about environmental health issues. She encouraged the public to call the department with questions and concerns.

Binkley, formerly the chronic health conditions adviser and information specialist, said she is looking forward to continuing Johner's work on such issues as oral cancer, prostate cancer and tobacco awareness. She will also continue her work with the department's chronic disease self-management program.

Other areas of interest for Binkley include helping the community learn about healthy aging and working to reduce the rate of childhood obesity.

"I definitely want to get the word out more about what is available here because I feel like there's a lot of people in the community that don't know and could definitely benefit from our services," she said.

In light of the retirements at the beginning of this month, Aubert said the department anticipates shifts in leadership to continue for a few years.

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