The University’s medical arm is taking on the name of GW Medicine.
Medical Faculty Associates spokesperson Anne Banner said officials are rebranding the MFA, a network of physicians who teach at the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and service medical centers including GW Hospital, to GW Medicine to represent the organization’s relationship with GW’s medical school. She said the rebrand has no set deadline for completion, but officials are incrementally implementing the title throughout this year and onward.
“GW Medicine more accurately describes what we do, especially for our key target audiences, current and prospective patients,” Banner said in an email.
As of May, University and MFA leaders have not made an official announcement of the rebrand. But the revamped moniker has established a virtual and physical presence, appearing across the practice’s social media accounts and in its Ambulatory Care Center on the corner of 22nd and I streets.
She said officials are using an “inside out” approach of first implementing the GW Medicine brand in spaces forward facing to the University community and later to broader public spaces. She said they are prioritizing the internal implementation to garner excitement for GW Medicine’s mission of “medicine, education and discovery.”
Banner said officials “soft launched” the rebrand with SMHS’ Bicentennial Celebration, which began in early 2024. The name appeared in the GW Medicine Bicentennial Series in the 2024 fall and spring semesters — which included panels on heart health and speaker events on maintaining healthy skin — and the GW Medicine Bicentennial Excellence Awards in March, a recognition ceremony for MFA and SMHS faculty and staff.
The GW Medicine logo consists of “GW” in white, sans serif font and “Medicine” in light blue, sans serif font. The letters in the “med” of “medicine” slightly overlap, with hints of white on the convergences.
Officials filed to trademark three versions of the GW Medicine logo on July 1, 2024, and the applications are pending approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to the office’s website.
The MFA transitioned to its current logo in fall 2021, formerly a circular logo with “MFA” in black lettering in the center, with “Medical Faculty Associates” and “The George Washington University” in concentric circles, all in a serif font. “The GW Medical Faculty Associates” in light blue sans serif lettering sits adjacent to the circular logo. Banner said the switch modernized and simplified the logo, which is now “GW” in large, dark blue and sans serif lettering with “Medical Faculty Associates” in smaller, light blue sans serif lettering.
Banner said in February that officials conducted surveys and interviews starting in 2017 regarding MFA branding with members of the GW, MFA and DMV communities, which ultimately informed the rebrand to GW Medicine. The conversations revealed discontent with the MFA title and the moniker’s ability to accurately represent its health service and academic offerings, she said.

She added that the MFA will do business as GW Medicine but will retain Medical Faculty Associates, Inc. as its legal title.
While officials are conducting the rebrand in-house, the brand agency Monigle assisted the MFA in constructing GW Medicine’s “foundational elements” a few years ago, Banner said.
“We are building excitement and alignment within our internal community to drive momentum and inspire progress toward our key missions,” she said in an email.
The rebrand comes at a time of “structural imbalance” in the MFA and consistent losses amounting at least $80 million for the past three fiscal years.
The GW Medicine moniker preexisted the official rebrand, dating back to at least 1965. It appeared intermittently on MFA communications and marketing in reference to the MFA and SMHS as one entity.
The title made an appearance at a men’s basketball game in February dubbed “GW Medicine & SMHS Night,” with a share of the proceeds benefiting the academic medical enterprise. University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said in February that the MFA sponsors some University events to promote their services and ease the MFA community into GW campus life.
The game included a section of the Smith Center reserved for GW Medicine community members, where some attendees donned T-shirts with the GW Medicine logo. MFA officials including CEO Bill Elliott sat courtside for part of the game.
She added that the rebrand will clarify the MFA’s dedication to patient care.
“The mission and core values of SMHS and MFA remain the same — to enhance the health and health equity of individuals and communities through world-class education, research from discovery through implementation sciences, and patient care,” she said in an email.
Over the past few years, health care systems across the country have rebranded to reflect changes like mergers and partnerships. In 2022, 32 health care enterprises updated their titles, according to Becker’s Health Review.
Robert Hay Jr., the executive vice president of the Medical Society of D.C., said the pandemic proliferated issues in health care, like low staffing and burnout, and some hospital leaders consolidated their organization with other medical entities, calling for a brand that represents all of its players.
“A lot of times when a medical enterprise will rebrand because it reflects either an expansion or a change in the business model, just like any other business or nonprofit organization,” Hay said.
Hay said Johns Hopkins Medicine created a National Capital Region brand following the formation of partnerships with DMV hospitals in years prior.
Hay said aside from logos, a medical enterprise’s staffing also is a part of its brand. He said for example, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health’s title reflects its MFA staffing and its “quality” patient care.
Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health opened last month, located east of the Anacostia River and will primarily serve Ward 7 and 8 residents. D.C. councilmakers have voiced concerns about the MFA’s financial turmoil and a potential inability to staff the Cedar Hill hospital.
“It also shows this idea of there’s a large network out there of care that is available to me potentially by going into this one location,” he said.
He said he’s noticed the MFA doubling down on its dedication to health quality and equity in the District over the past few years, notably when officials hired LaQuandra Nesbitt, the former director of D.C. Health, in 2022 as the executive director for the Center for Population Health Sciences and Health Equity.
Hay said a new, strong brand for the MFA could potentially attract students to SMHS. He said branding can help the MFA and SMHS stand out amongst other DMV health systems and their affiliated universities.
“One of the great things about the District is it is such a robust healthcare environment that there’s almost a need to brand yourself well to stand out amongst the quality,” Hay said.