Concerns about the economic recession dominated a presentation on the state of the Georgetown University Medical Center given Wednesday by Howard Federoff, executive dean of the School of Medicine and executive vice president for Health Sciences.Speaking for about 40 minutes in the New Research Auditorium, Federoff offered mid-year numbers on GUMC’s finances and presented some of the initiatives being considered to cope with the economic downturn.For the first two quarters of the 2009 fiscal year, total revenue was down by $600,000 from an expected $117.5 million, according to Federoff. Total expenses also decreased $4.1 million from an expected $130.9 million. Of these numbers, expected gifts and endowments were down $2.2 million from $9.7 million. Federoff said philanthropy is generally “trending down” in the current financial climate.Despite these figures, the value of grants received in this fiscal year to date stood at $89.1 million, up from about $64 million in 2008 and about $46 million in 2007.uch in line with the current state of the national economy, Federoff painted an uncertain picture for the future.”This is just the beginning and no one really knows . whether we are in the third or fourth inning, but we are certainly not in the eighth or ninth,” he said.The medical center chief expressed confidence, however, in both where it is now and its financial prognosis moving forward.”I think the medical center right now is doing OK,” Federoff said.The university sold the hospital in 2000 to MedStar Health after GUMC posted a loss of $83 million in 1999. While the budget remained in a deficit for a few years following the sale, the hospital turned its finances around in 2005, reporting a $5 million surplus.Federoff repeatedly referred to the $787 billion stimulus package President Obama signed into law on Tuesday. According to The New York Times, the bill has allocated $10 billion to the National Institutes of Health, which can funnel money into institutions like Georgetown University Hospital.”The implications of all those additional dollars being now put into the NIH has us all intrigued,” Federoff said. “No one is quite certain how it will be spent.”He added that the bill was being examined by university officials, and GUMC was trying to position itself to be as competitive as possible to receive funds.Federoff also discussed the Committee of Medical Center Affairs board meeting, which took place last week. The board approved a “faculty voluntary separation and phased retirement plan,” Federoff said, which offers incentives for certain medical center faculty members who have worked full time for 10 years and are above the age of 55 to retire. The plan is expected to save $3.7 to $4 million over a three-year period.However, Federoff stressed that he is not looking to lay off faculty.”I don’t want to be in a position where other institutions have had to make precipitous changes that have led to layoffs,” he said. “I find that to be very unacceptable.”Federoff said that the reliance on grants, which in part fund faculty salary, make the situation particularly uncertain.”. there’s a 10 percent chance of getting a grant funded or renewed and roughly a quarter of the portfolio turns over every year … this is a very, very tenuous business model,” Federoff said. “The greatest liability for us as an academic institution is that portion of expenses that relate to salary.”Federoff said he wants to find new ways to use faculty to generate revenue. He discussed proposals such as creating an educational program in cooperation with another university, although he would not disclose which universities were under consideration.”