William J.C. “Bill” Matthews is a Senior Managing Director at Guidepost Solutions, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent, and a U.S. Navy veteran. An investigator and advisor by training and practice, Mr. Matthews helps health systems, boards, and counsel strengthen controlled substance compliance, diversion risk controls, and investigation-ready response so they are inspection-ready and incident-ready before scrutiny or a crisis forces the issue.
During his 24-year tenure with the DEA, Mr. Matthews progressed from Special Agent to senior leadership roles spanning complex investigations, the Special Operations Division (SOD), overseas postings, and the DEA Training Academy (Quantico). Early in his career, his investigative foundation was shaped in Los Angeles with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), including assignment to LAPD “Majors” (major narcotics trafficking groups), experience that continues to inform his disciplined, evidence-first approach. He has trained domestic and international audiences, including law enforcement officials and executive leaders, translating operational and compliance expectations into execution. He later served as Interim Director of the International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEA) and as the DEA representative on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation Board.
Mr. Matthews’ field leadership included service as Resident Agent in Charge in São Paulo, Brazil, where he worked closely with counterparts and U.S. interagency partners to address time-sensitive security concerns tied to major international events, including the Olympics and World Cup. He leveraged working proficiency in Brazilian Portuguese to build durable relationships and execute under pressure. Across domestic and international assignments, his approach has been consistent: align stakeholders, document clearly, and translate high-pressure situations into clean decisions and defensible outcomes.
At Guidepost, Mr. Matthews is part of the DEA Regulatory Compliance practice. In this role, he has completed 200+ mock DEA inspections across 39 U.S. states for a wide range of DEA registrants, including hospitals and health systems (inpatient and outpatient), retail pharmacy, narcotic treatment programs (NTPs), and EMS and ambulance services. He assesses recordkeeping, reporting, security, and CSA and CFR “effective controls.” Each on-site visit is backed by concrete deliverables, including a closing briefing, a narrative report, structured Excel-based gap tracking that separates potential violations from best-practice remediation, practical train-the-trainer aids teams can reuse after the engagement, and follow-on stakeholder meetings. In addition to inspection readiness, he helps leaders promote a culture of compliance and cross-functional collaboration that protects patients and staff. This is not a check-the-box exercise. It is built on documentation discipline and operational habits that stand up under real scrutiny.
A graduate of the DEA Office of Training’s Instructor Development Course (train-the-trainer), Mr. Matthews builds practical education that translates regulatory expectations into day-to-day execution. He also helped develop and personally instructs Guidepost’s customized DEA regulatory education programs (in-person and virtual) for healthcare registrants. Topics include inspection binder readiness, diversion red flags, investigations fundamentals (interviews, documentation, and reporting), medication tampering, impairment recognition, illicit fentanyl handling, pharmaceutical waste, and chain of custody best practices. Since retirement, he has trained 10,000+ healthcare professionals and leaders, supporting what he calls the “O-Team” (CEO, CFO, Director of Pharmacy, Chief Nursing Officer, heads of Security, EVS, and Human Resources), as well as frontline stakeholders across pharmacy, nursing, anesthesia, and clinical operations.
Mr. Matthews’ hospital engagements are operational and cross-functional. He helps teams tighten diversion controls, strengthen documentation discipline, and prepare leaders to brief confidently when the regulator walks in. He regularly works with inside and outside counsel on sensitive matters, producing documentation and briefings that are practical, defensible, and governance-ready. He is also a frequent conference speaker on the human resources foundations of diversion prevention, such as access controls, background checks, drug testing, and second-chance programs, including the keynote “The Four Buckets of Human Resources” at the 2026 NADDI National Healthcare Facility Rx Diversion Summit. Mr. Matthews serves as Texas Chapter President of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI).
Mr. Matthews has supported complex private-sector investigations, including matters involving significant financial loss and financial crime and financial law considerations, with a focus on disciplined methods and defensible documentation. He is a Texas-qualified investigative manager and a licensed private investigator.
Separately, Mr. Matthews supports security and threat-focused engagements, including Vulnerability Assessments, Independent Security Studies (ISS), and Threat, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessments (TVRAs) in the U.S. and overseas. He also provides overseas readiness and travel-risk instruction for executives and their families. He has served in volunteer emergency response roles, including the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
Mr. Matthews has appeared as a guest on the Game of Crimes podcast, interviewed by Steve “Murph” Murphy (Episode 169, Parts 1 and 2, 2024).
“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.” – Archilochus
