This summer, Dr. Zach Pinter M.D. became the newest member of The Orthopedic Partners group, and first full-time spine specialist based in the Wasatch Back.
Practicing primarily at the Park City Hospital and also the Heber Valley Hospital, Pinter said he is bringing world-class spinal care closer to home.
Within weeks, his schedule filled beyond expectations as patients from Summit and Wasatch counties, as well as Wyoming and the Uintah Basin, turned to him for answers to neck and back pain.
Pinter’s path to spine surgery began with mentors he admired as a teenager and solidified as a young adult.
“That’s really where it started,” he said. “Seeing the impact that these mentors of mine, who were physicians, were able to have in the lives of the people around them, and desiring to emulate that.”
After undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, he earned his medical degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He then went on to complete an orthopedic surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic — where the credo “the best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered” became central to his practice — and a spine fellowship at Philadelphia’s Rothman Orthopaedic Institute.
A fellowship-trained spine surgeon, Pinter treats degenerative, oncologic, infectious and traumatic conditions of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine in adults. With his expertise comes a holistic approach that slows the conversation in the clinic to break down possible causes of pain and tailor care to each person’s symptoms, lifestyle and goals, Pinter said.
According to him, many abnormalities appear on MRIs and X-rays even in people without symptoms, which makes it crucial to match imaging with the patient’s condition.
“Ultimately,” he said, “we treat patients, not imaging studies.”
Whenever possible, Pinter said, he avoids spinal fusion in favor of treatments that preserve motion. He served as a lead investigator on the TOPS lumbar facet arthroplasty FDA randomized controlled trial and is the first spine surgeon in Utah to offer this motion-preserving technology.
A TOPS device, or Total Posterior Spine System, is a screw-based spinal implant that offers an alternative to spinal fusion, designed to treat conditions like lumbar spinal stenosis by preserving natural motion while providing stability.
When fusion is the right answer, Pinter uses advanced tools — computer navigation and robotic-assisted techniques — to reduce invasiveness, enhance precision and promote smoother recoveries. But he’s equally candid when surgery isn’t the right answer.
Some of the hardest conversations, he said, are telling patients that an operation won’t help their pain.
“I want patients to know I’m a surgeon they can trust — not someone who will operate if I don’t think it will help,” Pinter said. “Yes, I’ve trained at top centers and can offer cutting-edge techniques, but ultimately I just want to see them get better and return to the life they want. Their best interest is my only priority.”
In his first weeks, Pinter said he has seen the full gamut of spine pathologies. He urges people to get evaluated when pain persists or worsens over a week or two; when new weakness or numbness appears in the hands, arms or legs; or when fine-motor tasks (buttoning, handwriting, zippers) and balance decline. Those can be signs of nerve or spinal cord compression.
“In our society today, the most common cause of spinal cord injury is no longer traumatic events,” he said. “It’s now cancer that spreads to the spine and then compresses on the spinal cord.”
Prevention, he notes, is cumulative: eat well, maintain a healthy weight, stay active, use proper lifting mechanics and mind posture in a screen-bound world. All a part of what he calls, “a spine-healthy lifestyle.”
The demand for local care has been immediate. Pinter performs surgery at Park City Hospital and sees patients in clinics there and in Heber, with additional availability on the Salt Lake side to reduce travel for some families. He and his team also keep slots open for urgent cases and, when necessary, double-book to see patients quickly.
Insurance, he says, shouldn’t be a barrier as the practice accepts virtually all Utah plans and also sees self-pay patients.
Now officially calling the Wasatch Back home, Pinter says he and his family are here to stay. Evening walks at sunset with his wife have become a routine, a chance to take in the mountains and reflect on what he calls “paradise” for his family.
“There’s nowhere else we want to live. We intend to be here for my entire career,” he said.