Warren Moore grew up moving from one small town to the next in central Pennsylvania, northern Maryland and West Virginia.
So, when he first came to South Jersey in 2021 to see what was happening at Inspira Health, the place felt familiar.
“It did feel a lot like home,” he said.
Five years later, it’s his to lead. Moore, Inspira’s president and chief operating officer, will become CEO of the South Jersey health system Jan. 1, succeeding Amy Mansue, who announced her retirement Tuesday.
For Moore, who has more than 35 years in health care, it’s the top job in what he calls the fourth quarter of his career, and it’s exactly the one he wanted.
“I’m honored to have this opportunity,” he said. “There’s no place else I’d rather finish my career.”
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Moore came to Inspira after a long run at Children’s Specialized Hospital, where he served as CEO. Coming out of COVID in 2021, he said, he wanted to take stock of what came next.
“I really just wanted to take stock in what I hoped and wanted to do for that fourth quarter in my career, if you will,” he said.
He called Mansue, a longtime colleague from Children’s Specialized, and came down to see the system for himself. He joined in July 2021 and has led operations, quality, safety, growth and system integration ever since. He was named president in January.
He said the work at Children’s Specialized prepared him for South Jersey.
“Our focus for so many years was on the most vulnerable children, the greatest needs,” he said. “And these are communities that are incredibly vulnerable and have incredible needs, and so coming here was a blessing.”
Mansue said his background is exactly why he’s the right choice.
“Because Warren grew up in parts of the country that look a lot like this, his lived experience makes him the right person at this moment in time,” she said.
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Moore has built his career on partnerships, and he said that won’t change.
“These communities are real to me; we all take it very personal down here,” he said. “Doesn’t need to be about us, right? It’s about what are we doing to support this community.”
The biggest change in the new job, he said, is stepping out front. As president, he worked on strategy behind the scenes. As CEO, he’ll be “the voice of that work” with other leaders across the region.
Will he be a regular at chamber events and business gatherings?
“You will see me,” he said.
But he’ll work a room his own way. Where some leaders try to meet everyone, Moore said he looks for a few real connections.
“That’s not in my DNA,” he said. “I’m going to try to touch three or four people and have a deep conversation with them.”
That approach, he said, is how the hard work gets done in South Jersey. The region needs economic growth, jobs that become careers and better schools, and no one organization can do it alone.
“The only way these communities are going to be as healthy as they can be and reach their full potential is if we have an all-hands-on-deck, all-in approach,” he said.
Moore grew up in places like that. Now he’s in charge of making this one healthier.
