Fawzi Ameer, MD

Medical director of cardiology and cardiac MRI at Avera Health and Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota 

There are physicians who excel in the exam room, and there are physicians who reshape the institutions around them. At 39, Dr. Fawzi Ameer is doing both at once. Fawzi’s specialty, advanced cardiovascular imaging, is shaping the future of diagnostic cardiology. Meanwhile his work to advance multimodality imaging integration, standardize protocols across campuses and build clinical capacity has raised the quality of heart care across the area.  

His most defining contribution may be one still under construction. Dr. Ameer has taken a hands-on leadership role in designing Avera’s new 33,000-square foot Cardiovascular Imaging Center. This facility will define the region’s cardiac imaging capabilities for decades. He is that unique physician who can translate clinical vision into capital infrastructure at scale, and his CEO nominated him specifically in recognition of that capacity. 

What distinguishes Fawzi beyond his credentials is how his colleagues describe him: exceptional but humble, rigorous but approachable, innovative but collaborative. He has built a culture around him that draws staff and physicians together rather than dividing them. That kind of human touch is harder to teach than any clinical skill. 

For patients across South Dakota and environs, Dr. Ameer’s work means access to world-class cardiovascular imaging close to home. That is a legacy worth recognizing.