Ioana Dumitru, M.D., was among the first group of cardiologists in the U.S. to earn the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) certification for heart failure and cardiac transplantation. certification.
Dr. Dumitru is an associate professor in the University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Internal Medicine in the section of cardiology and a heart failure specialist and transplant cardiologist.
Earning the certification requires a specialist physician to demonstrate superior skills and knowledge in all areas related to cardiology including pulmonary hypertension and mechanical assist devices. She is one of just 250 physicians in the U.S. to earn this certification.
"We are delighted that Dr Dumitru continues to be recognized for her role in developing a truly multi-disciplinary, multi-faceted approach to treating some of our sickest patients," said Lynell Klassen, M.D., Henry J. Lehnhoff Professor and chair of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine. "This achievement confirms the medical center’s role as a leader in treating complex heart disease."
Dr. Dumitru said her individual certification will lead to improvements in the medical center’s clinical, educational and research areas.
“It should give patients greater confidence about the standards of quality care we provide here,” she said. “It offers up the opportunity for growth in research. It also will allow us to create a fellowship to train other specialists in this area.”
In 2010, UNMC’s hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, performed 21 heart transplants, a 50-percent increase over 2009. Dr. Dumitru believes increased use of the recently approved mechanical assist devices have played a big role in the program’s growth.
“This certification continues to demonstrate our commitment to extraordinary patient care,” said Jorge Parodi, executive director of cardiovascular and pulmonary services at The Nebraska Medical Center. “It also recognizes Dr. Dumitru’s commitment to excellence in her clinical specialty. All these accolades elevate our program to the highest level and continue to set a new standard for patient care.”
With a reputation for excellence, innovation and extraordinary patient care, The Nebraska Medical Center has earned J.D. Power and Associates’ Hospital of Distinction award for inpatient services for four consecutive years. It also received the 2010 Consumer Choice Award, a mark of patient satisfaction as selected by healthcare consumers and has achieved Magnet recognition status for nursing excellence, Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals Performance Improvement Leader recognition, as well as the Award of Progress from the state of Nebraska’s Edgerton Quality Awards Program. As the teaching hospital for the University of Nebraska Medical Center, this 624 licensed bed academic medical center has an international reputation for providing solid organ and bone marrow transplantation services and is well known nationally and regionally for its oncology, neurology and cardiology programs. The Nebraska Medical Center can be found online at www.nebraskamed.com