James Mathis named UW Medicine chief compliance officer

Mathis, an attorney, will start February 20. He replaces Sue Clausen, who is retiring.

Media Contact: Bobbi Nodell, bnodell@uw.edu, 206.543.7129


James Mathis has been named UW Medicine's new chief compliance officer, with responsibility for guiding the UW Medicine compliance team in advancing clinical care, training and science in today’s heavily regulated healthcare environment.

“The history and focus on regulatory compliance and the groundwork that has been laid by Sue Clausen and her team is so superior,” Mathis said. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to join a tremendous organization with a world-class regulatory compliance program.”

Clausen was UW Medicine’s first chief compliance officer, serving for more than 13 years. Along with her compliance team, she created the first system-wide compliance infrastructure, incorporating new entities like Northwest Hospital and Valley Medical Center as they joined the system. Clausen’s team oversees compliance with all applicable healthcare laws and regulations governing more than 27,000 employees across UW Medicine’s eight entities: Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine, and Airlift Northwest.

Mathis, an attorney, said what drew him to UW Medicine was its reputation. “It’s about the excellence that exists and the opportunity to be part of an outstanding workforce with an obvious commitment to healthcare and the community,” he said.

Mathis will join UW Medicine’s team of experienced professionals, including compliance officers Jane Yung, Laurie Halvorson and Wendy Jakobsen.

Career in healthcare

For the past five years, Mathis has been the chief compliance officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, which includes an 1,100-bed hospital, more than 2,400 providers, ancillary businesses and an academic research enterprise. While there, he established an institution-wide process and platform designed to harmonize policies, procedures and protocols. He embedded compliance officers as consultants in key operational areas, led a response to government audits, redesigned audit-response protocols, and supported the medical center’s legal separation from Vanderbilt University.

Before Vanderbilt, he worked as the chief compliance officer and the senior compliance counsel for Omnicare, Inc., an institutional pharmacy based in Covington, Ky., servicing more than 1.4 million elderly in the United States and Canada. He also served as vice president of compliance operations for Fresenius Medical Care in Waltham, Mass., which specializes in renal dialysis for 85,000 patients, and the deputy general counsel for Gambro, Inc., in Denver, and Gambro Healthcare, Inc. in Nashville, specializing in kidney function and blood technologies for 45,000 patients.

Mathis also worked as a healthcare compliance consultant to companies in transition, as a lawyer for Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis, a leading healthcare law firm based in Nashville, and as a private attorney. Mathis received his law degree and bachelor’s degree in classical languages (Greek, Latin) and history from Vanderbilt.

Strong culture of compliance

Paul Ramsey, CEO of UW Medicine, said Mathis joins a strong culture of compliance.

“Sue Clausen has developed an outstanding compliance program focused on identifying areas of high risk prospectively and developing plans to mitigate that risk,” he said. “UW Medicine is fortunate to have a very large number of individuals who are committed to excellence in our compliance program. Jim Mathis has an exceptionally strong compliance background, and I look forward to working with him.”

For details about UW Medicine, please visit http://uwmedicine.org/about.

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