GWUMC VISION AND MISSION

Mission

• Teaching with creativity and dedication,
• Healing with quality and compassion,
• Discovering with imagination and innovation..

Working together in our nation’s capital, with integrity and resolve, The George Washington University Medical Center is committed to improving the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities.

The George Washington University Medical Center will improve the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities by:

• Developing tomorrow’s leaders
• Delivering high-quality healthcare
• Advancing scientific discovery and translating discoveries into action
• Harnessing new technology
• Establishing community partnerships
• Fostering multidisciplinary collaboration
• Pursuing alliances unique to our location.

Institutional Goals

1. Prioritize and develop signature programs intersecting education, research, clinical care, policy and community service in alignment with market and community needs.
2. Enhance the national and international stature of GWUMC as a premier academic medical center.
3. Leverage the unique partnership between the SPHHS and SMHS.
4. Increase collaboration and alliances within and outside of the University.
5. Work with the local community to enhance our service contributions.
6. Strengthen financial sustainability of each Medical Center entity.
7. Provide funding and other institutional support for programmatic reinvestment and growth.
8. Have a working environment that encourages the best faculty and staff to choose us.

Educational Goals

1. Develop and provide strong academic programs and multidisciplinary experiences that attract top candidates from diverse backgrounds.
2. Educate and train students and residents to become lifetime learners and to become leaders in improving the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities.
3. Lead the field in the development of innovative curriculum and new models of teaching excellence.
4. Increase student exposure and involvement in research, policy and community service.

Clinical Goals

1. Ensure consistent quality care across all clinical services.
2. Provide excellent service to our patients and their loved ones.
3. Identify and develop “destination” clinical programs.

Research Goals

1. Within 10 years be internationally recognized for three signature multidisciplinary research programs.
2. Make excellence in research a defining characteristic of GWUMC and an integral part of the clinical and educational programs.
3. Enhance collaboration throughout GWUMC and the University.
4. Expand research collaboration with external organizations.
   

GW Medical Center Announces Strategic Roadmap for the Future

During several town hall meetings, GW Medical Center leaders unveiled progress on the strategic plan, defining mission, vision, goals and priorities for the next five years. Students, faculty, staff and members of the GW community attended the town hall meetings on the new strategic plan.

The University Board of Trustees charged the Medical Center with the development of a new strategic plan, according to University Provost and Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. John F. Williams. The strategic plan, initiated last year, is the result of input from more than 250 people, including faculty, staff, students, University leadership, Trustees and others from the GW medical center community. It involved an assessment of the current market and environment as well as a projection of future needs. "The strategic planning process serves as a starting point both for accelerating and cementing GW Medical Center’s position among leading academic health centers."

Dr. Williams noted that, in the late 1990s, the Medical Center and its related entities were losing in excess of $40 million a year. Since that time, the Medical Center and its related entities have become financially stable and much stronger. "We now are in a position to make key investments in new targeted areas and continued investments in existing programs. We also have the opportunity, with the new University master campus plan, to participate in new building projects."

A steering committee comprised of Medical Center leadership guided the strategic planning process. Four strategy design teams addressed the three mission areas of education, research and patient care, as well as communication and collaboration. These teams were instrumental in developing goals as well as strategies and tactics to support the goals.

The strategic plan focuses on the area where the Medical Center entities’ missions and opportunities converge, said Dr. Williams (see illustration on page 1), "and we are stronger and better positioned for success by working together and collaborating."

"The new mission better reflects our future direction," said Dr. Williams, "and provides the vehicle to get the GW Medical Center community thinking in the same direction—what we need to do and how we’re going to do it."

"We will be collaborating in a dynamic and substantive way," said Dr. Williams. He and others took town hall participants through the educational, clinical and research goals which have been endorsed by the Board of Trustees. Strategies and tactics to address the goals and accompanying metrics will help to measure and present progress in the future.

"Our strategic plan is a dynamic and living document, not a published report on the shelf," said Dr. Williams. "It is our roadmap as we prioritize our opportunities and resources as we advance the Medical Center and our mission."