ORLANDO, Fla. (September 29, 2009) — Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) is pleased to announce Edgar Jimenez, MD, director of Medical Critical Care at Orlando Regional Medical Center, has been elected to a four-year term as president of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. He was elected at the 10th World Congress in Florence, Italy. His term begins immediately and will continue until 2013.
With a membership of more than 136,000, the World Federation is comprised of the Critical Care Societies of 56 countries, with a Council that includes the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Spain.
“Traditionally the World Federation has been a scientific forum,” said Dr. Jimenez. “Now we are also taking a very active role in developing and supporting critical care in some areas of the world that need it the most, such as Asia, the Middle East and Africa, by coordinating the efforts and resources of the largest societies in the federation. I plan to continue this focus during my tenure.”
In addition, the organization will begin important, immediate strategies to coordinate the efforts to mitigate the H1N1 pandemic, including guidelines for treatment and research initiatives, in collaboration with the World Health Organization.
Dr. Jimenez is a member of the United States Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and their representative to the World Federation. He was past-chair of the SCCM’s Fundamental Critical Care Support Steering Committee and of its Education and Training Steering Committee. He co-developed their Fundamental Disaster Management course that focuses on the communication, decontamination procedures and dynamic case management during a mass casualty crisis.
Dr. Jimenez joined ORMC in 2004. His 25-year career includes various positions in organizations throughout the United States and abroad: director, ICU, Corpus Christi Medical Center, Corpus Christi, Texas; medical director, U.S. Embassy, Costa Rica; and medical director, National Red Cross, Costa Rica. He received a doctorate of medicine and surgery from the University of Costa Rica School of Medicine. Dr. Jimenez completed an internal medicine and pediatrics residency at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a critical care fellowship at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center and St. Louis University Hospital.
About Orlando Health
Orlando Health is a $1.5 billion not-for-profit health care organization and a community-based network of hospitals and care centers in the Orlando region. The organization, which includes the area’s only Level One Trauma Centers for adults and pediatrics, is a statutory teaching hospital system that offers both specialty and community hospitals. They are: Orlando Regional Medical Center; Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children; Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies; Dr. P. Phillips Hospital; South Seminole Hospital; South Lake Hospital (50 percent partnership); St. Cloud Regional Medical Center (20 percent partnership) and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando – the first affiliate of one of the nation’s premier cancer centers The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Orlando Health’s areas of clinical excellence are heart and vascular, cancer care, neurosciences, surgery, pediatric orthopedics and sports medicine, neonatology, and obstetrics and gynecology.
Orlando Health is Central Florida’s fifth largest employer with nearly 14,000 employees and more than 2,000 affiliated physicians, all of whom support our philosophy of providing high quality care and service when it matters most. We prove this everyday with over 100,000 inpatient admissions and more than 600,000 outpatient visits each year. In all, Orlando Health serves 1.6 million Central Florida residents and nearly 3,000 international patients annually. Additionally, Orlando Health provides approximately $198 million in support of community health needs. More information can be found at www.orlandohealth.com.