Steven Wexner, MD

Provider is directly employed by MedStar Health

Steven Wexner, MD, PhD (Hon), FACS, FRCS (Eng, Ed), Hon FRCS (Glasg, Eng, Ire), MAMSE, is physician executive director and system chief of Colorectal Surgery for MedStar Health. Internationally recognized as a pioneer in colorectal surgery, Dr. Wexner has over 38 years of clinical, academic, and research experience. He specializes in surgery for rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, rectourethral and rectovaginal fistulas, and re-operative pelvic surgery. Physicians, surgeons, and patients throughout the country and from around the world routinely seek his expertise and rely upon him as a resource.

Dr. Wexner is internationally renowned for his numerous groundbreaking contributions to the field of colorectal care. He helped establish minimally invasive surgery as a standard treatment and introduced numerous refinements to help patients avoid stomas. With over 1,200 published peer-reviewed studies and more than 41,000 citations, he is the most frequently cited living colorectal surgeon. He is an Editor-in-Chief of Surgery and was the inaugural Chair of the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer.

Before joining MedStar Health, Dr. Wexner served as Director of the Ellen Leifer Shulman and Steven Shulman Digestive Disease Center and Chair of the Department of Colorectal Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida, where he held numerous leadership roles since 1988.

Deeply committed to surgical education, he has trained and mentored more than 800 surgeons worldwide and holds academic appointments at numerous leading global institutions, including an Honorary Professorship at University College London. The Ellen Leifer Shulman and Steven Shulman Digestive Disease Fund supports his academic mission at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Dr. Wexner has served in many leadership roles in the American College of Surgeons, including Regent and Vice-Chair of the Board of Regents. He is a past president of numerous surgical societies, including the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation, the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. He is an honorary member or fellow of over 25 national and international societies, including all four of the Royal Colleges in the UK and Ireland.

Philosophy of Care

“My goal is to achieve the best possible surgical outcomes while optimizing patients’ quality of life. As Executive Director and System Chief, I aim to make MedStar Health the premier referral center for colorectal care through collaboration, shared expertise, and systemwide integration.”