Media Contact: Michael Schwartzberg, GBMC Media Relations Manager

(O): 443-849-2126/Cell: 410-258-3465eMarch 2:]

Greater Baltimore Medical Center Taps Beryl for Customer Call Center Services

BALTIMORE, Md. –   September 24, 2007 – Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital, has selected The Beryl Companies as its partner in offering physician referral services and healthcare customer assistance via a call center for residents of Baltimore County, Baltimore City and surrounding counties. GBMC’s call center is available free of charge 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 443-849-GBMC (4262). Beryl is the nation’s leading healthcare-exclusive customer interaction center.

For those seeking a physician referral, Beryl’s call advisors are specially trained to match callers’ preferences to GBMC physicians, taking into account variables such as medical specialty, office location, languages spoken, insurance accepted and office hours. Callers can be immediately forwarded to a physician’s office to set an appointment if they choose. In addition to the phone referrals, callers are sent a printed summary via U.S. Mail listing the physician referrals.

“As part of our commitment to providing medical care and service of the highest quality to our patients, opening this call center will ensure residents have convenient access to our services any time, day or night,” said Michael Hartnett, GBMC’s director of marketing & research. “Our partnership with Beryl is a perfect complement to the diversity and quality of programs we offer.”

Beryl helps organizations grow revenue and build lasting customer relationships by connecting people to healthcare. As a leading provider of outsourced telephone and Web-based communications, Beryl delivers 24/7 exemplary customer service to more than three million consumers each year. Since 1985, hundreds of healthcare organizations have relied on Beryl for best-practices insight and data they can use to make more informed decisions about customer acquisition and retention. For more information about Beryl and its educational arm, The Beryl Institute, visit www.beryl.net.

GBMC includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital; Hospice of Baltimore, which provides comfort and care to patients with life-limiting illnesses; and the GBMC Foundation, which supports the GBMC mission by managing fundraising efforts.  The 292-bed Medical Center, located on a beautiful suburban campus, serves nearly 22,000 inpatients annually and provides approximately 60,000 emergency room visits. For more information, go to www.gbmc.org

###