NATION

William McGowan, 59, chairman of MCI Communications Corp., is in stable condition at Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, after suffering a heart attack Dec. 21, according to hospital officials. McGowan, who founded the $2.5-billion Washington-based long-distance telecommunications firm, was expected to go home later this week, a hospital spokesman said. Bert Roberts, MCI’s president and chief operating officer, is running the company while McGowan is ill, John Worthington, MCI’s general counsel, said.