Updated: Aug. 18, 2025 at 12:54 p.m.
Universal Health Services, the owner and operator of GW Hospital, reached an agreement with the Medical Faculty Associates late last month that closed the MFA’s lawsuit over whether UHS “properly withheld” Medicare reimbursements, an MFA spokesperson confirmed.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier dismissed the case on July 25 after UHS filed a stipulation to dismiss their appeal the day prior at the D.C. Court of Appeals, signifying the parties came to an agreement. It is not clear what agreement the two parties came to as limited public information is available about the litigation after Judge Yvonne Williams sealed the case last September at the request of UHS, GW and the MFA in an effort to protect confidential information governed by a prior agreement between the involved parties.
MFA spokesperson Anne Banner confirmed the MFA and UHS reached an agreement but did not respond to a request to comment on what the agreement was.
“The University can confirm we have reached agreement with Universal Health Services to resolve a pending lawsuit relating to the fulfillment of certain financial obligations,” Banner said in an email.
She declined to comment on why both parties agreed to formally end the case and if the MFA or University will implement any oversight or reporting systems to ensure contract obligations are transparently upheld moving forward.
The litigation battle began early April last year and centered around whether UHS “properly withheld” Graduate Medical Education reimbursements — payments extended by the federal government and Medicare to teaching hospitals to cover the costs of training residents and fellows in approved programs — in its financial calculations to GW, which led to the MFA suing UHS.
The resolution comes after UHS appealed Williams’ ruling last fall that the disagreement be resolved through arbitration, a private process where a neutral arbitrator resolves the dispute.
The case is at least the second lawsuit that the MFA and UHS have filed against each other in the last five years.
GW and the MFA sued UHS in December 2019, alleging that the company failed to uphold its agreement to create and expand hospital programs, like an ambulatory care network and centers that focus on issues like emergency medicine and women’s health. A judge ruled to partially dismiss the December 2019 lawsuit in June 2020, upholding the MFA’s claim that UHS has an obligation to support the hospital’s “centers of emphasis,” which includes several specific clinical programs, like emergency medicine and women’s health.
GW sold off its 20 percent stake in the GW Hospital to UHS in 2022, making the company the sole owner of the hospital.
In April, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health — a $434 million facility staffed by MFA physicians and operated by UHS — opened as part of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to combat health disparities in wards 7 and 8. When the hospital opened its doors in April, the emergency room was overwhelmed with too many patients and not enough staff, the Washington Post reported in July.
A city health spokesperson told the Washington Post in July the hospital closed its doors to ambulances five times in it first 45 days. Understaffing issues came after MFA officials in March said they were hiring new physicians amid concerns from D.C. councilmembers about the practice’s ability to staff a new hospital due to its financial instability.
This post was updated to reflect the following:
The Hatchet incorrectly stated that Judge Yvonne Williams dismissed the case and Judge Tanya Jones Boiser sealed the case. It was corrected to reflect that Boiser dismissed the case and Williams sealed the case. We regret this error.
