Editor’s Note: This story is developing. If you have any additional information, please email [email protected]. 

Medical Faculty Associates Board of Trustees Chair Ellen Zane also sits on the Board of Directors of the MFA’s top independent contractor, according to a press release and several online profiles.

Zane, who leads the MFA’s highest governing body as its chair, has also served since 2018 on the board of Savista, the MFA’s independent contractor for revenue management. University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said Zane disclosed her relationship with Savista as part of the annual Trustee Conflict of Interest process and is recused from all conversations relating to Savista’s financial management services for the MFA as a result.

Savista is responsible for managing revenue cycle functions for the MFA — a network of health care providers and faculty affiliated with GW’s medical school and hospital. Savista’s roles include coding for insurance claims, billing, helping patients understand payment options and collecting the organization’s unpaid balances, per a 2020 press release announcing the two organizations’ partnership.

Zane was recused from the MFA board’s deliberation and vote in December 2019 on whether to enter into a relationship with Savista, formerly known as nThrive until 2021, McClendon said. She declined to specify when Zane disclosed the dual relationships or which officials she alerted.

“Trustee Zane remains recused from any MFA board business and discussions involving NThrive/Savista,” McClendon said in an email.

Zane’s relationship with Savista has not been disclosed on any of the MFA’s Form 990 tax forms since they entered the partnership in 2019. Zane and former interim University President Mark Wrighton disclosed a business relationship on GW’s fiscal year 2022 Form 990 but did not further specify what the relationship entailed.

McClendon said all executives undergo an annual Trustee Conflict of Interest process. She didn’t clarify what the process consisted of, but the GW Office of Ethics, Compliance and Risk’s website states that trustees are required to complete a disclosure form before their election and annually thereafter.

The policy states that an appearance of a conflict occurs when it appears to “an outside party” that a trustee may be in a position to take actions that would “personally benefit that trustee.”

The MFA’s conflict of interest policy, which isn’t available online but was obtained by The Hatchet as the MFA’s tax forms state the policy is available to the public upon request, states that a conflict occurs when an individual’s financial, professional or other personal interests “directly or indirectly affect” or have the “appearance of affecting” their professional judgment in exercising their responsibilities at the MFA. The policy applies to all MFA workforce members, per the document.

McClendon said the MFA entered into an agreement with Savista in December 2019 — more than a year after Zane joined Savista’s board — following a review of “several potential vendors.” McClendon declined to say which other companies the MFA was considering and what distinguished Savista from them.

The MFA and Savista announced their partnership in late June 2020, reporting that Savista would take over the MFA’s revenue management on July 6, 2020.

The MFA has faced a mounting financial burden in recent years, with the organization losing more than $107 million in FY2024, which more than doubled officials’ projected deficit and marked the medical enterprise’s greatest annual loss since GW assumed control in 2018.

Since 2018, the MFA has accrued more than $272 million in debt to GW and $120 million to other entities, prompting faculty senators to raise alarms and pressure the University to reassess the MFA’s financial losses and its impact on GW’s “underfunded areas,” like student financial aid and undergraduate programs.

The MFA has paid Savista almost $50 million since entering the contract in 2019, including $10.5 million in FY2021, $8.4 million in FY2022 and almost $30 million in FY2023, according to MFA tax forms. Despite the MFA losing roughly $80 million in FY2023 — consistent with the prior fiscal year — its FY2023 payment to Savista tripled from the previous year.

The payment accounted for about 10 percent of the roughly $366 million in patient revenue the MFA collected that year. McClendon declined to comment on why the MFA paid Savista almost triple in FY2023.

McClendon declined to comment on what Zane’s responsibilities are as a member of Savista’s board and which MFA officials were involved in the decision to partner with Savista in 2019.

She also declined to comment on whether Savista’s services are essential to the MFA or how long the contract between the MFA and Savista is set to last.

Savista did not return a request for comment on Zane’s relationship with Savista and the MFA.

University President Ellen Granberg said at the January Faculty Senate meeting that the MFA’s “senior leadership,” and MFA trustees are responsible for evaluating the potential impact of its financial losses on students and determining when those losses become unsustainable.

McClendon declined to comment on whether Zane’s fiduciary duty — a trustees’ legal obligation to act in the best interest of the company — to Savista has influenced her decision making or ability to act impartially in her role with the MFA, especially surrounding the institution’s losses.

Given Zane is recused from all conversations surrounding Savista and that the company manages the MFA’s revenue, it is unclear to what extent Zane can participate in conversations about the MFA’s finances.

McClendon declined to comment on how the MFA has evaluated Savista’s impact on its financial performance, given that the MFA’s operating expenses began outpacing its operating revenue in 2020, the year the MFA transferred its revenue management responsibilities to Savista.

She also declined to say if any third-party audits or investigations have been conducted to assess the integrity of the MFA’s contractual relationship with Savista, given Zane’s role on both organizations’ boards.

The MFA’s FY2023 tax forms show that the University returned the management and monitoring of its conflict of interest policies to the MFA in March 2023. McClendon declined to comment on the reasons behind this policy change, who was responsible or how the MFA ensures enforcement of its conflict of interest policy when potential conflicts involve senior leadership.

Before becoming MFA board chair in 2019, Zane served on GW’s Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2022, including a nine-year term as vice chair. Zane also previously served as CEO of Tufts Medical Center from 2004 to 2011.

She also chaired the GW Board’s Committee on Finance and Investments from at least 2014 to 2020, according to Internet archives, during which time the University waived a $20 million loan to the MFA in 2019.