Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Georgia’s No. 1 heart hospital, has added a new cardiologist to care for patients in Gainesville.

Dr. Ioannis Parastatidis recently joined The Heart Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center and is accepting new patients.

“I jumped at the chance to join such an awarded heart program that patients in this region know and trust,” Dr. Parastatidis said in a press release.

He tells patients to not be intimidated by his name, pronounced “pear-
ah-stat-EYED-us.”

“Greek names like mine can be tough to say, even when you’re from Greece, so I tell people all the time: Just call me Dr. Para.”

Parastatidis received his medical degree from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and completed his internal medicine internship and residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. He completed fellowships in cardiology and structural imaging at Emory University, where he served as chief cardiology fellow, and he is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease.

Parastatidis also holds a Ph.D. in vascular biology from Aristotle, and he conducted research about atherosclerotic heart disease, oxidative stress and vascular aging at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He has authored and co-authored more than 20 studies in medical publications, mostly on his research in coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and aging.

To make an appointment, visit www.heartngmc.org/parastatidis or call 770-534-2020.