Georgetown University’s Medical Center may soon have new leadership, following the submission of four candidates for executive vice president for health sciences to University President John J. DeGioia.

Stuart Bondurant, the interim executive vice president of health sciences, told faculty and staff in a meeting last week that he was “very enthusiastic” about the transition and is supportive of each of the four candidates, according to Blue and Gray.

“These are really outstanding people,” he said of the four candidates, according to the Blue and Gray report.

Howard Gray, S.J., a member of the university’s Board of Directors who is heading the search committee charged with finding the next leader for the Medical Center, said that he would not comment on the four potential candidates.

Bondurant, who will remain in his position until a replacement is selected, is “committed to working with [his successor] to ensure a successful transition,” said Laura Cavender, the Medical Center’s executive director of communications.

Bondurant has no plans regarding his future at Georgetown following the transitions, Cavender said.

Bondurant, who came to Georgetown in August 2004 after the resignation of Daniel Sedmak, who held the post for 14 months. Bondurant is the fourth person to lead GUMC since 2002.

Bondurant spent much of his tenure addressing the Medical Center’s budget deficits, which lost $15.9 million in 2005 and, according to Cavender, $16.9 million during the fiscal year that ended in June. The Medical Center has cumulatively lost over $340 million since 1995.

Bondurant has led several initiatives to improve the Medical Center’s financial health over the past two years, including numerous layoffs, freezing all hires in 2004 and a large administrative restructuring last year that intended to centralize financial management.

The Medical Center sold Georgetown University Hospital to MedStar Health in 2000 in an attempt to help balance its budget. The medical center’s deficit peaked at $83 million in 1999.

GUMC reduced its number of staff members and non-tenured faculty in September 2004 by 65 in the hopes of achieving $12.75 million in savings, although actual gains fell nearly $5 million short of this estimate.

Budget plans instituted by Sedmak before Bondurant’s hiring called for the Medical Center to run a debt of $7.5 million in 2006 and balance its budget by 2007. Cavender said that the medical center is on track to run a $16.7-million deficit in 2007 and will continue to cut costs.

“We have also made very conservative philanthropy and licensing estimates that could help improve the bottom line,” she said.