Health-care entrepreneur joins Flinn Foundation board

Heidi Jannenga, one of Arizona’s most accomplished health-care-technology entrepreneurs, has been elected to the Flinn Foundation board of directors.

Jannenga, co-founder of Phoenix-based WebPT, the leading software provider for electronic medical records and practice management for rehabilitation therapists, brings to the board premier expertise in the clinical and business currents shaping Arizona’s health-care and technology sectors. 

“The Flinn Foundation helps research discoveries today become startups and therapeutics tomorrow,” said Dr. David J. Gullen, chair of the Flinn Foundation board. “Heidi understands what’s necessary for such translation better than almost anyone, and her experience and judgment will strengthen both our decisionmaking as a board, and our grantees’ impact on the quality of life in Arizona.” 

Jannenga’s leadership and service to the community extends well beyond WebPT. Among other appointments, she serves as secretary of the board of directors of the Arizona Community Foundation, as a trustee of the Arizona Science Center, as a board member of the Arizona chapter of Conscious Capitalism, and as a board member of the Arizona School for the Arts. 

She is also a founding member of the Arizona chapter of Golden Seeds, an angel-investment group focused on women-led ventures. And she serves as a member of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee, a Flinn Foundation-staffed body of leaders from science, health care, business, academia, and policy that works to strengthen the state’s bioscience sector. 

“Heidi has the capacity to think deeply about so many subjects, a talent of critical importance for a foundation like ours that works not only in the biosciences, but also the arts, education, and civic leadership,” said Tammy McLeod, Flinn Foundation president and CEO. “She’s a visionary in terms of recognizing how technology is transforming health care, and her background as both an entrepreneur and a woman in STEM brings immensely valuable experience and insight to our board.” 

A sports physical therapist and clinic director when she co-founded WebPT in 2006, Jannenga served as chief operating officer until 2015, and then as the firm’s president until 2019, when it was acquired by Warburg Pincus. She is now chief clinical officer for WebPT, which has been named to the Inc 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies for eight consecutive years. 

Jannenga earned her doctorate in physical therapy from Evidence in Motion. She holds a master of science in physical therapy from University of St. Augustine Institute of Physical Therapy, and a bachelor of science in biological science and exercise physiology from the University of California at Davis. 

About the Flinn Foundation 

The Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed, philanthropic grantmaking organization established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn that awards grants and operates programs in four areas: the biosciences, the Flinn Scholars, arts and culture, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in Arizona, to benefit future generations. 

The foundation’s focus on health care and medical research stems from the career of Robert Flinn, a cardiologist who headed the departments of cardiology and electrocardiography at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. He was chief of the medical staff at St. Joseph’s and at Phoenix Memorial Hospital, president of both state and county medical societies, and co-founder and first president of the Arizona affiliate of the American Heart Association.

SOURCE: https://flinn.org/health-care-entrepreneur-joins-flinn-foundation-board

Posted in AZBio News.