The George Washington University (GW), Medical Faculty Associates, Inc. (MFA) and Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) today announced a definitive agreement on a sustainable framework for the continued provision of patient care at GW Hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and affiliated outpatient sites, as well as high-quality medical education and research at GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS).
For patients, the agreement and the related transition have been designed to prioritize continuity of care.
Under the agreement, the majority of MFA physicians and staff are expected to be employed by Capital Medical Group, the new physician-led not-for-profit with a UHS entity as its sole member. Capital Medical Group will occupy most of the physical locations of the MFA, including in Foggy Bottom, keeping care in the same locations with which patients are familiar. Additionally, Capital Medical Group will provide clinical services to GW Hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and affiliated outpatient sites.
“Today’s agreement is an important step forward for GW and the communities we serve,” said Ellen M. Granberg, president of the George Washington University. “It successfully safeguards the School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ missions of high-quality education and research, while providing for the funding and delivery of physician services at GW Hospital. In addition, this agreement provides financial certainty for the university and a sustainable path forward for the clinical operations at GW Hospital and its affiliates.”
The announcement follows months of discussions and community updates about the ongoing negotiations. In October 2025, GW reported that it had reached initial terms with UHS that reduced GW’s near-term financial exposure while allowing all parties to continue negotiating a durable structure. In April, the university reported the parties had reached agreement on the vast majority of substantive terms and were working through the few remaining points. All of which has now culminated in this comprehensive agreement.
The agreement provides for the following:
- A UHS affiliate will establish a new, physician-led nonprofit physician practice group Capital Medical Group, which will provide clinical services to GW Hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and affiliated outpatient sites. Critically, Capital Medical Group intends to provide its services with many of the same physicians at the same locations as the MFA.
- Clinicians moving to Capital Medical Group will retain their faculty appointments at SMHS and will continue to provide academic instruction and clinical training and engage in research.
- Under this five‑year, renewable agreement, UHS will become financially responsible for physician practice operations at GW Hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and affiliated outpatient sites.
- Over the next five years, GW will provide up to $230 million to support the transition to Capital Medical Group and absorb prior loans made to the MFA—this funding represents GW’s investment in the future of healthcare for the District of Columbia, medical education and research at SMHS, and the support of physicians, advanced medical providers and staff transitioning to Capital Medical Group.
- After this time, UHS will assume full financial responsibility for clinical practice operations. This provides GW with greater financial certainty and relieves it of any potential future need under the current agreement to absorb MFA’s losses. Those losses have totaled more than $450 million since 2022.
- GW will fund the orderly transition of functions that are not moving to Capital Medical Group, ensuring that affected MFA team members and their patients are supported throughout the process.
- As part of the transaction, Capital Medical Group, a physician-led not-for-profit affiliate of UHS, will provide clinical services at Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center. GW is committed to ongoing engagement in community health initiatives in Ward 7 and Ward 8 to promote health equity and improved health outcomes in the community.
- GW remains the sponsoring and accrediting institution for all Graduate Medical Education programs for residents and fellows at SMHS, who will remain employed by GW, and GW Hospital will continue to serve as the primary clinical site for GW residents and fellows.
GW and UHS are currently developing the new policies, procedures and access needed to continue conducting research at GW Hospital and affiliated outpatient sites. Consistent with current practice, GW will continue to conduct research sponsored by the federal government, industry and others at facilities outside of GW Hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and affiliated outpatient sites. Between now and the closing date of the transaction, the parties will work to ensure a smooth transition that prioritizes patient care as well as the continuation of medical education and research at SMHS. The transaction is expected to close this summer and is subject to the deal’s closing conditions.
Why the parties pursued a new structure
For decades, GW has participated in a multiparty relationship that provides physicians to treat patients at GW Hospital and outpatient clinics in the D.C. community, while also serving as faculty members who teach and train medical students, residents and fellows. UHS purchased an 80% interest in GW Hospital in 1997 and acquired the remainder of the hospital in 2022. MFA, a separate nonprofit physician group practice affiliated with GW, was established in 2000.
Under Granberg’s leadership, the Board of Trustees and the GW senior team extensively reviewed the existing structure with UHS and MFA and concluded that it was financially unsustainable given the persistent imbalance between what it cost MFA to provide physician services and the revenue it received for those services.
Additionally, the demand for medical services never fully rebounded after COVID-19. As a result, MFA’s losses have totaled more than $450 million since 2022, as GW loaned MFA the funds to cover operating losses and keep physician services and the academic mission moving forward—support that the university determined it could not continue indefinitely, particularly in light of the federal landscape and other headwinds GW and other universities are facing.
Granberg and the Board of Trustees took the initiative to address these issues in a way that protects patients, learners and the academic medical enterprise while establishing a sustainable framework.
What this means for patients, learners and faculty
GW, MFA and UHS emphasized that, for patients, the agreement and the related transition have been designed to prioritize continuity of care. GW will continue to fund education activities in recognition of the vital role physicians play in teaching and mentoring students, residents, fellows and researchers at SMHS. This new agreement also preserves SMHS’ Undergraduate Medical Education and Graduate Medical Education programs at GW Hospital with GW’s medical faculty serving those programs.
The university is also committed to ongoing engagement with Ward 7 and Ward 8 through educational partnerships and community health initiatives.
For SMHS, the agreement is structured to preserve the core elements of academic medicine. Clinicians moving to Capital Medical Group will retain their faculty appointments at SMHS and will continue to provide academic instruction and clinical training and engage in research. GW and UHS are currently developing the new policies, procedures and access needed to continue conducting research at GW Hospital and affiliated outpatient sites, while the university’s other research activities sponsored by the federal government, industry and others continue.
The agreement also creates space for GW to strengthen and broaden clinical training partnerships over time—reinforcing the university’s commitment to medical education and to serving patients across the District of Columbia and the region.
