The Maryland health official leading an overhaul of the state’s troubled system of drug addiction and mental health treatment programs is stepping down.

It’s unclear what the departure of Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health Alyssa Lord means for the state’s ongoing reform efforts.

Lord will leave her role on Feb. 20, health department spokesperson Amanda Hils confirmed.

Since Lord joined the department’s Behavioral Health Administration in 2024, she has overseen a crackdown on Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse in the system, which pays companies hundreds of millions of dollars a year to provide treatment to the state’s poorest residents.

In recent years, advocates, providers and regulators have sounded the alarm on the fast-growing treatment field. They said patients were not getting the help they needed in poor-quality programs, including many that illegally used free housing to lure and retain them.

A 2024 investigation by The Banner and The New York Times into a program called PHA Healthcare where at least 13 people died over two years, found that for years the state had failed to adequately vet, audit and inspect treatment providers.

The state, under Lord’s leadership, paused new Medicaid enrollments for some types of programs where suspected fraud and abuse seem particularly rampant. Other efforts included stepping up investigations of suspicious providers and embarking on an overhaul of flawed regulations that were difficult to enforce.

Progress has been mixed. In December, the state health department reported that the rewrite of regulations had faced major delays due to pushback from some treatment providers. Meanwhile, the state announced heightened scrutiny of state certified recovery residences, which house people trying to stay off drugs.

The state will continue to address credible allegations of fraud and actively work with stakeholders to revise regulations, Hils, the health department spokesperson, wrote Wednesday.

Hils did not answer a question about the reasons for Lord’s departure, which comes during Maryland’s legislative session. Dr. Rachel Talley, the Behavioral Health Administration’s chief medical officer, will serve as interim leader, the spokeswoman said.