Dr. Andrew Zinn Takes Role as Medical Staff President

On April 1, 2022, Andrew Zinn, M.D., began his role as medical staff president for Inspira Health Center Bridgeton and Inspira Medical Centers Elmer and Vineland. 

Dr. Zinn is no stranger to leadership roles. As an interventional cardiologist, he led the charge to develop and expand Inspira’s primary angioplasty program, and continues to run the catheterization program at Inspira. 

In his role as president, Dr. Zinn is looking forward to acting as an advocate for medical staff members. “My number one goal is to figure out how we can best transition out of the pandemic,” he said. “The past two years have been unprecedented, and they’ve taken a toll on health care providers. And while the pandemic isn’t over, we have to figure out how to engage staff members again, how to encourage regular communication after so much isolation, and how to help those who have been overwhelmed by the effects of COVID.” 

While Inspira medical staff members currently have access to a number of physician wellness resources, Dr. Zinn hopes to educate staff on how to participate and adequately refer colleagues. “I want to make sure that everyone knows what services are available and can easily access them,” said Dr. Zinn. “Everyone has been siloed during the pandemic, and now my goal is to remind staff members that they can take advantage of our counseling, feedback, and mentorship services.” 

In addition to staff engagement initiatives, Dr. Zinn plans to continue promoting the importance of patient safety. “Safety has always been very important to me as a director in a clinical area,” said Dr. Zinn. “The work we do to improve communication among physicians and other administrators; to improve systems of collaboration between physicians, nurses, pharmacists and support staff; and to improve patient outcomes all contribute to our growth as a high reliability organization.” 

Dr. Zinn plans to focus on patient safety by: 

1. Ensuring patient safety initiatives are developed at an administrative level and become integral to the staff’s day-to-day work. 
2. Ensuring clinicians receive constructive feedback when opportunities for improvement are identified.
3. Ensuring clinicians receive positive feedback when they catch patient safety events before they happen or cause harm.
4. Educating staff members on systems and processes across departments in order to promote accountability and improve safety standards for everyone.

Dr. Zinn wants medical staff members to know that he is always available to address concerns and will act as a liaison between the staff and administration. He will serve as medical staff president until March 31, 2024.