GW is seeking a new chief financial officer for the Medical Faculty Associates less than a year after officials hired the former CFO.
Robin Nichols began her role as CFO on Oct. 16, 2023, and officials listed a job posting for her position on July 2, fewer than nine months after she assumed the position. School of Medicine and Health Sciences Dean Barbara Bass, who also served as the MFA’s CEO until May, said in February that she hoped new “expertise” in MFA leadership, including Nichols, would make “tough moves” by the end of the fiscal year to begin paying off the organization’s $200 million debt to GW.
Nichols declined to comment on why she left the University because of a nondisclosure agreement she signed that prevents her from speaking about GW but confirmed Thursday that she is no longer working for GW. Nichols’ LinkedIn states that she still holds the position.
The job posting lists the salary range for the role as $290,900 to $589,900. Former CFO Lance Kaplan made $482,236 between July 1, 2022 and his departure in February 2023, according to the MFA’s tax forms.
The CFO is responsible for balancing short-term and long-term strategic objectives to maximize the MFA’s financial performance as well as developing models that respond to new financial or operational circumstances, according to the posting.
“The CFO will be expected to apply skills, experience, acumen and an understanding of the business of academic healthcare in all decision-making and strategic planning for growth, revenue enhancement and expense rationalization, among others,” the posting reads.
GW took the reins of the MFA in 2018 and acquired governing power over the nonprofit physician group, replacing its leaders in the following years with officials like Bass and outside hires. By early this year, the MFA was floundering close to a $250 million deficit since fiscal year 2020, and GW has paid for their losses out of pocket, granting loans to the MFA that total almost to $200 million.
In 2022 and 2023, officials have projected the MFA would break even during the year and walked back those forecasts months later. GW CFO Bruno Fernandes said in February 2024 that he expects the MFA to lose between $30 million and $50 million in FY2024.
Bass said in a September press release that Nichols would be a “great asset” to their organization because she understood the intricacies of day-to-day finances, as well as how to drive long-term strategy and vision.
“She is a highly sought after senior executive leader with an expansive career and involvement in national CFO networks,” Bass said in September.
Nichols previously served as CFO of Warbird Consulting Partners, a consulting firm for health care and financial institutions and as CFO of WakeMed Health System, a health care system in Raleigh, North Carolina. The MFA brought Nichols into the enterprise after Kaplan left the CFO role in February 2023.
GW hired Bill Elliott in May to replace Bass as interim CEO to provide full-time leadership in both the MFA and SMHS that officials hoped would enhance the “integrated performance” of the GW academic medical enterprise by allowing Bass to focus solely on SMHS while Elliott focuses on the MFA.
Elliott’s appointment as CEO marks the third time in the last decade that the MFA has changed its executive management. The MFA brought in Robert Kelly as a new CEO in January 2017 after terminating former CEO Stephen Badger, who held the position for more than 15 years.
