Mercy Health – Urbana Hospital’s podcast, Mercy Moments, produced in association with TrueChat, reached more than 10,000 people recently in the local area, including Champaign and Clark counties.
According to Jamie Houseman, president of Urbana Hospital, the podcast is part of Mercy’s continuing efforts to increase community engagement and provide preventive advice to people from the comfort of their homes.
“Mercy Moments has seven episodes out now, with new episodes on the third Tuesday of each month. These are short, 20- to 30-minute discussions with medical professionals working right here in our community. This podcast is a great resource, especially right now, for people to learn more about the new and existing services the local Mercy Health family has to offer. The success we’ve seen with this proves that people want to be engaged with our team and be proactive with their health,” Houseman said.
Justin T. Weller, president and CEO of TrueChat, said: “Jamie’s team and Mercy have been great to work with over the last year. Our team has really invested in doing our part to make this show a success. Clearly Mercy’s bet has paid off. Over the last three episodes, we’ve been able to reach more than 10,000 people in our community. Part of what is so encouraging is not just the number of people listening, but the fact that people are staying engaged and really learning from these episodes.”
Terry Ceyler works at Urbana Hospital and hosts the podcast. He said health care needs to continue to innovate to meet people where they are. He said he’s pleased that a small hospital is thinking outside the box to better educate people about what’s available.
“Hosting a podcast is a unique experience,” Ceyler said. “I have a business background, so there’s a few perspectives I get to bring to the table. It is great to get to speak with so many of my colleagues and really demystify some of these things in health care. Justin and his team at TrueChat have been there every step of the way to help us build this show into the success it is today and we really appreciate their commitment to serving the community, Ten-thousand people is a big deal. Reaching that many people through a new form of media in a rural area shows people’s appetite for things like this.”
Mercy Moments is recorded at TrueChat’s studio in Urbana. The podcast is free to access at MercyMoments.org or listeners can use their smartphones to listen through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and everywhere else podcasts are found. Recent topics include youth vaping, the importance of mammograms, and back to school safety.
“We are very excited about the success of Mercy Moments,” said Houseman. “Our goal at Mercy Health is to improve the health and well-being of our community and bring good help to those in need. The success of this podcast and our work with TrueChat to reach the community proves that we can make a difference by having honest, open and respectful conversations with people.”
