Office of the Secretary

Carmel Roques, Secretary

Carmel Roques, Secretary of the Department of Aging, is a visionary leader dedicated to improving the lives of older adults and their families. She is known for her multi-sector, collaborative approach to planning and preparing for healthy longer lives in Maryland. She is an accomplished healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience leading and transforming non-profit organizations, building strong cultures of service excellence and innovation. Her expertise includes dementia, palliative care, strategic planning, organizational development, community health and service delivery models for older people.

Roques served for a decade as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Keswick Multi-Care Center in Baltimore, a 138-year-old not-for-profit community healthcare provider. Roques served as CEO throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, creating the emergency response infrastructure required to successfully keep residents , families and employees safe and healthy. As CEO, she also led the creation of Keswick Community Health’s Wise & Well Center for Healthy Living.

Before serving as CEO of Keswick, she was Chief Operating Officer for Virginia United Methodist Homes, and prior to that, she worked for twelve years at the Episcopal Ministries to the Aging in Eldersburg, Maryland, culminating in over three years as COO. Her early career roles included Director of Adult Day Care and Director of Home Care Services for Catholic Charities in Baltimore . She has proudly served on many community boards including The Village Learning Place, The Maryland American Diabetes Association, Friends and Foundation of Howard County Library and currently Maryland Humanities. She has also served older people and their families on the Maryland Commission

on Aging, the Maryland Medicare/Medicaid Advisory Committee, the Maryland Coalition on Mental Health and Aging, Maryland CARE Transformation Steering Committee, she is also past Chair of both the

Maryland Philanthropy Network and LifeSpan Network. She has been recognized by the Daily Record among Maryland Top 100 Women, Top CEO, and Influential Leader in Health Care.

She has a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland, California.

Bernice Hutchinson, Deputy Secretary

Bernice Hutchinson serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging. In this role, Hutchinson advocates for older persons in Maryland, protecting the rights and quality of life of our older residents. Hutchinson also leads the internal administration and management of the Department’s day-to-day operations. She oversees the Department’s programs and spending while developing essential partnerships to ensure a coordinated statewide delivery system that promotes choice, independence, and dignity for older Marylanders and their caregivers. She advocates to protect the rights and quality of life of older adults, most importantly to provide the services necessary to allow them to age at home and in their communities.

Prior to joining the Maryland Department of Aging, she dedicated more than three decades to the field of aging. As a senior policy advisor, she advised the nation’s state government leaders, educated Congress, administered two national resource centers and was a frequent guest speaker at national, state, and local conferences. She has crossed the country and appeared before groups in nearly every state. She has authored technical works and served as a consultant and contributor on many works, including Nora Jean Levin’s bestseller How to Care for Your Parents: A Handbook for Adult Children. She is a graduate of Williams College with a degree in psychology and honors in African American Studies. She has been married for more than 38 years and is the proud mother of a daughter who is a classical ballerina.