MCVI receives Federal “Green Light” to perform adult heart transplants

MCVI receives Federal “Green Light” to perform adult heart transplants
MCVI receives Federal “Green Light” to perform adult heart transplants
Dr. Ioana Dumitru

The Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute (MCVI), a leading provider of adult cardiac services in South Florida, has received federal approval from UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) to launch an adult heart transplant program at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.

The MCVI Adult Cardiac Transplant Heart Program is the only one of its kind in Broward County, providing a nearby option for residents in Aventura and throughout South Florida. Prior to federal approval, statistics showed that a large number of patients did not have sufficient access to heart transplant services and many had to seek services outside South Florida and even out of state.

The UNOS approval now clears the path for surgeon Enrique Gongora, MD, medical director, Adult Cardiac Transplant Program, to perform the first heart transplant in the hospital’s history. Ioana Dumitru, medical director, Adult Cardiac Transplant, Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy, will lead the management of cardiac transplant patient care before and after transplant.

“Heart transplantation demands a comprehensive team effort,” Dr. Gongora explained. “Beyond the physicians, we’re fortunate to have a team of high caliber, dedicated nurses, intensivists, perfusionists, and laboratory medicine experts – all levels of patient care – who are helping us make this dream a reality.”

Dr. Enrique Gongora is a board-certified cardiac surgeon. He earned his medical degree from the Universidad del Rosario in Bogota in 1992. Dr. Gongora completed residency training in general surgery and a fellowship in surgical critical care at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC.

MCVI receives Federal “Green Light” to perform adult heart transplantsHe then completed a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester and pursued further fellowship training in adult cardiac surgery and thoracic transplantation/ mechanical circulatory support at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Ioana Dumitru is a board-certified advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist. She earned her medical degree from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania in 1996. She completed her residency in internal medicine at St. Joseph Hospital/Northwestern Medical School in Chicago in 2000. Dr. Dumitru completed her fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and her fellowship in heart failure and cardiac transplantation at Washington University School of Medicine, in 2003.


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