Universal Health Services will establish a new non-profit physician practice group to directly hire Medical Faculty Associates employees if ongoing negotiations to end the University’s financial support for the medical enterprise succeed.
Officials on Thursday said UHS’ physician practice affiliate will directly hire a “significant number” of MFA physicians, clinicians and staff through a new not-for-profit physician practice group that will serve GW Hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and other outpatient sites. GW’s release states officials still need to address several issues in the next stage of negotiations, including a shared approach to the MFA’s governance, leadership and operations, as well as staffing levels of physicians, clinicians and administrative employees.
GW reached a preliminary agreement last month with UHS — the owner and operator of GW Hospital — to co-fund the MFA, a nonprofit network of health care providers and School of Medicine & Health Sciences faculty that serves GW Hospital and Cedar Hill. Both parties are continuing negotiations to end the University’s financial support for the medical enterprise, whose debt stood at $444 million to GW and other lenders at the end of fiscal year 2025, with GW loaning it $98 million last fiscal year.
“While no final decisions have been made, meetings are taking place this week and next week with department chairs and leaders to solicit input and consultation on the process and future structure,” the release states.
UHS has created preliminary staffing plans, which officials are currently discussing with department chairs and leaders from the MFA and SMHS, according to the release. UHS will also create clinical and administrative staffing plans for clinical operations, which will also be discussed with department chairs and MFA and SMHS leaders, though the release did not specify when they will complete these plans.
As part of the process, the release states GW and SMHS will analyze UHS’ staffing plans for hiring a “significant number” of MFA employees to ensure they align with UHS’ commitment to meeting SMHS’ academic needs.
The initial deal stipulated that GW will continue to fund the MFA’s clinical education under the preliminary agreement, as the enterprise’s physicians teach SMHS’ students, residents and researchers. Bill Elliott, who has served as the MFA’s chief executive officer since May 2024, said last month the framework the parties are negotiating will permit UHS to directly employ clinical and non-clinical staff and faculty, who would remain faculty members at GW.
The ongoing negotiations also come as GW faces a $24 million budget deficit as of July and has undergone University-wide budget cuts to bring the University back to financial stability. Officials acknowledged in late April, in their initial announcement of budget cuts, that the MFA has contributed to GW’s financial losses.
The acknowledgment came as Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, in reports released in May and August, respectively, affirmed GW’s strong credit rating but revised the University’s outlook from stable to negative, signaling concern that the University’s score could decline if officials fail to end GW’s financial support for the debt-ridden medical enterprise.
Officials have pledged for years to bring the MFA back to profitability but have faced mounting pressure and skepticism from the Faculty Senate as the medical enterprise continued to flounder tens of millions of dollars each year. Over the 2024-25 academic year, officials continuously said they were making progress on the MFA’s finances but did not publicly disclose specifics of their efforts to end the medical enterprise’s financial reliance on the University, which led faculty senators to press officials for details.
University President Ellen Granberg first teased the negotiations between the MFA and UHS at a September Faculty Senate meeting, and a University spokesperson confirmed officials were working to eliminate GW’s financial support for the MFA, although they declined to share details of the negotiations. Those comments marked the first time officials publicly disclosed talks between the two parties over GW’s desire to end its financial ties with the medical enterprise.
“The university, SMHS, the MFA and UHS are seeking to identify the best path forward – one that supports MFA physicians, clinicians, and staff, and also maintains the excellence of the SMHS teaching and research while meeting the clinical needs of the hospital and community,” the statement reads.
