Inspira Health Endeavors to Serve More of New Jersey

In January 2023, Inspira Health hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the latest addition to their healthcare system: New Jersey-based Salem Medical Center. Salem’s 350 employees and 225 medical staff will now come under a health system that has over 7,000 employees and 1,200 medical staff with 35 primary and specialty physician practices across multiple counties in the Garden State.

“Through this addition, Inspira will be providing an enhanced level of service, transporting and transferring patients to the most appropriate level of care,” Warren Moore, Inspira’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, told the Courier Post.

Inspira also announced a joint venture with Atlantic Medical Imaging and Regional Diagnostic Imaging to better serve its patients who require imaging and vascular services. The partnership will ideally increase access, schedule studies more quickly, and expand and enhance patient services.

In addition to the new acquisition and joint venture, Inspira is also introducing a hospital-based intervention program aimed at enhancing the delivery of clinical and behavioral health services to victims of gun violence. The announcement came in July 2023 with the goal of breaking the cycle of repeat victimization and, hopefully, saving lives.

Inspira joined ten other New Jersey health systems as the newest to receive funding for the hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program, which has been in existence since 2019.

“The success of a hospital-based violence intervention program lies in its ability to reach victims when they need it most—in the immediate aftermath of a violent incident,” said David Moore, assistant vice president for behavioral health services at Inspira in a prepared statement. “From crisis intervention and conflict mediation to victim compensation and mental health and substance use interventions, whole teams of professionals will work to ensure that victims receive the care and support they need to start their healing process.”

Inspira has partnered with several local public health departments and county victim-support programs to help enhance the program’s efficacy. The new program will support trauma victims of gunshots, stabbings, and blunt trauma as well as their immediate families in New Jersey’s Gloucester and Cumberland counties. Cumberland County had a crime rate of 548.4 per 100,000 in 2016—40 percent higher than the state average and 140 percent higher than the national average, according to New Jersey State Health Assessment data.

While it may be tough to see, the Inspira IT team helps support these wide initiatives, whether through uniting a new medical system’s integration to the Inspira network or creating the necessary infrastructure to launch new and impactful initiatives.

As vice president of information systems, Jerry Vilbrun only just began his tenure with Inspira a year ago, but he’s helping develop a three-year strategic road map, new dashboard views, and other IT initiatives to align with his growing organization. As the organization continues to expand, the VP’s team has grown as well.

Vilbrun may be a new leader at Inspira, but he’s a healthcare veteran, having spent fifteen years at Barnabas Health and Irvington General Hospital prior to six years at the New Jersey Innovation Institute. His innovative and motivational approach is sure to bring IT excellence to Inspira as the health system continues to find new ways of serving New Jersey residents.