Lt. Gov. Rutherford honors 2 Health employees for customer service
Governor’s Initiative aims to transform government to be more responsive
Baltimore, MD (June 21, 2017) – Today, Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford presented Governor's Customer Service Heroes Award for June 2017 to two Health and Mental Hygiene employees, Audrey Clark, director of the Office of Controlled Substances Administration, and Christine Farrelly, executive director of the Maryland Board of Physicians. The awards were presented at today’s Board of Public Works Meeting.
“On behalf of the Hogan Administration, I congratulate Audrey Clark and Christine Farrelly on this well-deserved honor,” said Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford. “This is a perfect example of state employees working collaboratively to provide Maryland citizens the efficient and effective customer service they expect and deserve.”
“The actions of our employees to resolve a constituent’s concerns in a responsive and timely manner exemplify our efforts to serve Marylanders and align with Governor Larry Hogan’s vision for transforming government through improved customer service,” said Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary Dennis Schrader.
The Governor’s Customer Service Initiative has been an effective tool and a new vantage point through which departments can assess and improve their service to the public.
Recently, through the Governor’s Customer Service Survey, the Governor’s Office informed Health and Mental Hygiene of a dissatisfied constituent who had suggestions for departmental improvement. The constituent, a physician’s assistant, made suggestions to improve the efficiency of the Controlled Dangerous Substances application process. This process improvement would require that two department divisions, the Office of Controlled Substances Administration and the Board of Physicians, to work together more closely.
Clark and Farrelly were interested and receptive to the constituent’s suggestions and discussed their procedures in their current form. Both divisions’ personnel recognized the opportunity for improvement and quickly implemented several measures to enhance intra-agency communications for the benefit of all future applicants. In addition to these initial, successful collaborations, both divisions have made long-term plans to communicate directly and share information in real time. This will reduce the administrative burden for both applicants and the agency, will increase information reliability and will make the process more seamless for applicants. This initiative is an example of the efforts across the health department to improve the flow of work and information across different offices that are in service to Marylanders.
This opportunity for greater efficiency and effectiveness was accelerated by the Governor’s Customer Service Initiative.
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