Updated: Oct. 9, 2023, at 11:40 p.m.
The Medical Faculty Associates lost nearly $80 million for the second straight fiscal year, losses that have reached nearly a quarter-billion dollars in the last four fiscal years, according to the University’s audited financial statements.
The MFA — a group of physicians and faculty from the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and physicians at the GW Hospital — spent nearly $450 million and made roughly $370 million in revenue in FY 2023, a $78,841,000 loss that nearly matches its $78,680,000 loss in FY 2022, according to the University’s audited financial statements. The University’s cash assets also halved between FY 2022 and FY 2023, plummeting from roughly $123 million to about $56 million in FY 2023.
In January, CFO Bruno Fernandes said he expected the MFA’s FY 2023 losses to range from $55 million to $65 million. He said a majority of the losses occurred at the beginning of FY 2023.
University spokesperson Julia Metjian said officials dealt with “strong headwinds” from inflation but managed to increase the University’s net assets by two percent.
Total assets, which include investments and contributions, increased from $4,967,614,000 in FY 2022 to $4,991,886,000 in FY 2023, according to the financial statements, which are audited by accounting firm Grant Thornton, LLP. The University had more than $5 billion in total assets in FY 2021, which fell to $4,974,114,000 in FY 2022.
Metjian said officials loaned money to the MFA to help the group recover from pandemic losses. She added that the MFA had paid all principal and interest payments on their loans from the University.
By the end of the FY 2023, the MFA owed GW more than $190 million, according to the financial statements. Former interim University President Mark Wrighton said in a January Faculty Senate meeting that officials loaned the MFA $15 million in December 2022 and an additional $45 million in January. He also walked back officials’ projection that the MFA will break even by the end of FY 2023.
Fernandes said in October 2022 that officials extended a $50 million loan to the MFA from March 2021 to $140 million.
“GW’s strong financial position and balance sheet will allow the University to continue to invest in faculty, initiatives and programs across the academic enterprise, in alignment with the University’s mission and priorities,” Metjian said in an email.
GW’s investment income increased by more than $150 million from $21,976,000 in FY 2022 to $176,662,000 in FY 2023, investing $1,152,424,000 in real estate — an increase of nearly $17 million from FY 2022 to FY 2023.
This post was updated to correct the following:
The Hatchet incorrectly reported that GrantThorton LLP consolidated the GW’s financial statements. The firm audits the statements. The Hatchet also incorrectly reported that GW loaned more than $190 million in FY 2023. GW loaned the MFA about $70 million in FY 2023 and the remaining $120 million during years prior. We regret these errors.
