GW Hospital CEO Kimberly Russo is leaving her post after nearly nine years in the role, days before her efforts to open the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center come to fruition.
Russo, GW Hospital’s CEO since 2016 and the vice president for the D.C. region of Universal Health Services — GW Hospital’s owner — since 2021, oversaw the expansion of the hospital’s services, including the construction of an additional 42-room trauma patient area in 2019, and led UHS’ partnership with the District to open a new hospital in Southeast D.C. on April 15. Russo is leaving her role at GW Hospital to take a position as chief executive of the central region of OSF HealthCare in Illinois starting April 28, according to a release the company published Monday.
Russo also previously served as the chief operating officer for GW Hospital from 2009 to 2016 and has been with the hospital since 1997.
Russo in 2021 reached an agreement with the District to staff the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center in Southeast D.C. with physicians from the Medical Faculty Associates and have UHS operate the center. The hospital, opening on April 15, will serve residents in wards 7 and 8, areas that have faced health disparities for years due to insufficient health care centers.
Russo has also overseen recent negotiations between UHS, the MFA and Cedar Hill officials to amend the MFA’s contract with the hospital to ensure the practice, which has suffered continued financial losses, is financially protected. The practice lost $48 million in the first half of fiscal year 2025 and lost $107 million in FY2024.
“We are thrilled to be embarking on the development of these vital health services East of the Anacostia River so that we can better serve all residents across the District of Columbia,” Russo said in the release. “Opening Cedar Hill Urgent Care is the next step in creating a comprehensive, academic medical network which will enhance health access, equity and outcomes and elevate healthcare in our nation’s capital.”
GW has not posted any updates regarding Russo’s position, and GW Hospital still lists Russo as CEO on its website.
Becker’s Hospital Review named Russo one of the 100 Academic Medical Center CEO’s to Know in 2019 and Washingtonian named her one of their Most Powerful Women in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Under Russo’s leadership, GW Hospital nurses voted to unionize in 2023 after the hospital allegedly removed union literature and dissuaded nurses from joining the union. In July of this year, the National Labor Relations Board summoned GW Hospital to a court hearing over three instances of alleged unfair labor practices in 2023.
Shortly before the nurses voted to unionize, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt) wrote a letter to Russo asking the hospital to refrain from interfering in the union election. Sanders wrote in the letter he was “deeply concerned” about alleged anti-union efforts from the hospital.
Over the last month, the GW Hospital nurses’ union filed five unfair labor practice charges, indicating renewed tensions following a December settlement between the hospital and the District of Columbia Nurses Association that requires the hospital to begin bargaining and comply with several union terms. GW Hospital did not recognize DCNA, the union that represents the nurses, for nearly a year after the union vote.
