ANNOUNCEMENT (Oct. 15, 2024) - William “Bill” Elliott has been appointed as CEO of the GW Medical Faculty Associates, the faculty practice organization that hosts the clinical practices of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS).
In recognition of the integral role of clinical practice in serving the academic missions of SMHS, Elliott will also hold the newly created position of senior associate administrative dean for clinical affairs in SMHS. He began serving in these roles on Oct. 7, after serving as interim MFA CEO since May 2024.
“Since joining our organization in May, Bill has identified and tackled the most pressing operational challenges, while building new processes and an administrative team to deliver rapid recovery and growth,” said Ellen Zane, chair of the GW MFA Board of Trustees. “He brings extensive experience in leading comprehensive clinical and business operations, business development and revenue cycle activities in ambulatory and hospital-based settings. He is an experienced leader and has the business acumen to stabilize the organization and forge the way to a successful future.”
As CEO and senior associate administrative dean for clinical affairs, Elliott is responsible for leading and overseeing the development of a high performing, multi-specialty academic faculty practice group to serve the missions of the GW academic medical enterprise. He will build a clinical organization capable of measurably high operational performance to drive the delivery of excellent patient-centered care that will transform academic health care access in the nation’s capital.
“For 200 years, GW’s academic medical enterprise has played a key role in supporting the health and well-being of the Washington, D.C., community and beyond,” said GW President Ellen M. Granberg. “As GW’s academic medical enterprise embarks upon its third century, I am confident that under Bill’s continued leadership, the organization will not only reach its immediate goals but also realize its long-term vision.”
Elliott will oversee operations management, including the senior executive staff, and provide an effective and efficient administrative structure that supports the clinical enterprise. He will lead the organization to be best-in-class for operational performance, financial standards, metrics and operations for sustainability and expansion. He will create a culture of excellence in both external and internal customer service, with the goal of improving the patient experience, as well as the experience of the faculty and staff.
As senior associate administrative dean for clinical affairs, Elliott will be an integral member of the GW SMHS leadership team working seamlessly with Vice President for Health Affairs and SMHS Dean Barbara Lee Bass.
“I am so pleased to welcome Bill into his new positions,” said Bass, vice president for Health Affairs, the Walter A. Bloedorn Chair of Administrative Medicine, and professor of surgery. “As CEO, Bill’s deep experience and success as a health care executive at major academic medical centers has prepared him to build a culture of operational and financial excellence. By adding the role of senior associate administrative dean for clinical affairs, we demonstrate the unification and mutual dependence of our academic and clinical entities, the essential components of the academic medical enterprise, which is GW Medicine: clinical medicine, education, and discovery. Together we are an organization that puts patients at the center of all functions serving as the North Star for our clinical, educational, research and community service missions.”
Prior to joining GW in May 2024, Elliott served as the chief operating officer at the University of Maryland Faculty Physicians, Inc., for 15 years, where he provided leadership in all operational aspects of the organization. He was responsible for developing and launching the long-term vision, strategic plan and policies of UM Faculty Physicians, including a business strategy to expand primary and specialty care across the state of Maryland, resulting in growth of more than 1 million patient visits per year.
He has also served in several leadership roles, including as the senior director of business operations and director of reimbursement for Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he was the lead for all matters related to the physician revenue cycle and provided clinical administrative and operational oversight of the ambulatory practices.
“The first several months at GW have shown me that there is great potential in the clinical arm of the academic medical enterprise,” Elliott said. “I am pleased to work with such a talented team to strategically position the organization to realize its missions. I want to thank GW MFA Board Chair Ellen Zane, GW Board of Trustees member and GW MFA Board member Pam Lawrence, GW President Ellen Granberg, and the entire GW MFA Board, for giving me the opportunity and the privilege to lead such an impressive organization.
“I look forward to partnering with GW MFA faculty and staff, Dean and Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Bass, GW President Granberg, university leadership and the GW and GW MFA Boards to move the academic medical enterprise forward into its third century of serving patients, the community, and GW’s learners.”
