- Hamed Shahbazi, Founder,
Chairman and CEO of WELL Health Technologies has been appointed
Chairman of HEALWELL AI, a global leader in AI powered preventative
care.
- Mr. Shahbazi's appointment is strategically important for
shareholders of both WELL and HEALWELL given the shared objective
between the companies to create the most advanced and easy to use
AI inspired tools that can equip care providers with various
'Co-Pilots' that can help them improve diagnosis of rare and
chronic diseases, improve efficiency of their practice, and improve
patient health outcomes.
- WELL is currently the largest shareholder of HEALWELL with
ownership of 20.7% of the company's issued and outstanding voting
securities. WELL also has an option to acquire approximately 30
million multi-voting shares that would give WELL a controlling
position in HEALWELL, as defined on an IFRS financial reporting
basis.
VANCOUVER, BC and TORONTO, Feb. 27,
2024 /PRNewswire/ - WELL Health Technologies Corp.
("WELL") (TSX: WELL) (OTCQX: WHTCF), a digital healthcare
company focused on positively impacting health outcomes by
leveraging technology to empower healthcare providers and their
patients globally, and HEALWELL AI Inc. ("HEALWELL") (TSX:
AIDX) (OTCQX: HWAIF), a healthcare technology company focused on AI
and data science for preventative care, are pleased to
announce the appointment of Hamed
Shahbazi as Chairman of the Board of HEALWELL. Mr.
Hamed Shahbazi is currently the
Chairman and CEO of WELL, Canada's
largest owner operator of outpatient medical clinics and leading
digital health service providing software and services to more than
one third of all Canadian physicians. Mr. Shahbazi has served on
the Board of HEALWELL since its launch on October 1, 2023. Mr. Shahbazi's appointment to
Chairman of HEALWELL is strategically important for shareholders of
both WELL and HEALWELL given WELL's equity ownership of HEALWELL,
its option to become a controlling shareholder based on an option
to acquire multi-voting shares (see details below) and the shared
objective between the companies to leverage AI and other
leading-edge technologies to support healthcare providers.
Hamed Shahbazi, Founder and CEO
of WELL commented on his appointment, "As a co-founder of HEALWELL,
I am personally very proud and excited to take on the role of
Chairman for HEALWELL AI given the enormous importance of the
shared mission and objective we have between WELL and HEALWELL.
WELL exists to tech enable health care providers and there isn't a
more important objective in our company and industry right now than
to support our healthcare providers given the enormous burdens they
currently face without adequate tools or assistance. Our objective
together with HEALWELL is to create the most advanced and easy to
use AI inspired tools that can equip providers with various
co-pilots that can help diagnose rare and chronic diseases, improve
efficiency of their practice, and help improve patient health
outcomes."
Mr. Shahbazi continued, "WELL has already invested significantly
in HEALWELL and we will continue to invest more time, resources and
support for the long-term to ensure that HEALWELL is a world class
company and leader in delivering AI-powered preventative care to
millions of patients."
Mr. Shahbazi is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and
Chairman of WELL and has over 25 years of experience as a
technology focused operator and executive. Over the past six years,
Mr. Shahbazi has led WELL to become the leading digital healthcare
company in Canada, profitably
approaching one billion dollars in
annual revenue and having a significant positive impact on the
industry. Previously, he founded TIO Networks (TSXV:TNC) a
multichannel payment solution provider, specializing in bill
payment and other financial services, which was acquired by PayPal
(NASDAQ:PYPL) in July 2017. Over his
career, Mr. Shahbazi has gained extensive experience in strategic
mergers & acquisitions, both as an operator and board member
with more than 80 successful transactions worth more than
$2 billion
Concurrent to Mr. Shahbazi's appointment, Mr. Kingsley Ward will be stepping down from
HEALWELL's Chairman position but will continue to serve as an
Independent Director on HEALWELL's board.
Dr. Alexander Dobranowski,
Co-founder, and CEO of HEALWELL commented, "I would like to extend
my sincerest thanks to Kingsley for his contributions and
invaluable leadership as Chairman, especially through the months
preceding the debut of HEALWELL. As we continue this exciting
journey of building a leading healthcare artificial intelligence
company, we are excited to welcome Hamed into the role as Chairman.
Hamed's experience as one of the most significant capital
allocators in the Canadian corporate landscape and his growing
success in building one of the most important health care companies
in Canada make him exceptionally
well-suited for this role."
On October 1, 2023, HEALWELL
announced a strategic alliance agreement with WELL to accelerate
the growth and development of its AI-enabled healthcare
technologies and to leverage those technologies for the benefit of
the care providers in WELL's expansive network which not only
includes WELL's own network of outpatient clinics which ranks as
the largest in the country but also its provider-centric digital
platform which touches more than a third of all care providers in
Canada. Subsequent to this
announcement, WELL launched its own clinical decision support
product branded as "WELL AI Decision Support". This product
leverages artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to help
providers enable the earlier diagnosis, treatment, and improved
quality of life for patients. The technologies behind WELL AI
Decision Support are exclusively developed and supplied by HEALWELL
and have been meticulously developed in close collaboration with
dedicated physicians, leading researchers, data privacy
professionals, pharmaceutical companies, and other domain experts.
For more information on WELL AI Decision support, please visit:
https://decisionsupport.wellhealth.ai.
WELL is currently the largest shareholder of HEALWELL with an
option that would give WELL a control position in HEALWELL, as
defined on an IFRS financial reporting basis. WELL currently holds
22.7 million shares of HEALWELL, thereby representing 20.7% of the
issued and outstanding voting securities of HEALWELL. WELL's call
option gives WELL the right to acquire up to an additional
approximately 30 million Class A Subordinate Voting Shares and the
same number of Class B Multiple Voting Shares of the Company. The
call option is available to WELL on October
1, 2025, and is exercisable until October 1, 2026, unless HEALWELL meets specific
performance milestones designed to demonstrate improvements in
financial performance, in which case WELL may exercise its option
earlier.
Hamed Shahbazi
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Director
WELL Health Technologies Corp.
Dr. Alex Dobranowski,
Chief Executive Officer
HEALWELL AI Inc.
About WELL Health Technologies
Corp.
WELL's mission is to tech-enable healthcare providers. We do
this by developing the best technologies, services, and support
available, which ensures healthcare providers are empowered to
positively impact patient outcomes. WELL's comprehensive healthcare
and digital platform includes extensive front and back-office
management software applications that help physicians run and
secure their practices. WELL's solutions enable more than 33,000
healthcare providers between the US and Canada and power the largest owned and
operated healthcare ecosystem in Canada with more than 150 clinics supporting
primary care, specialized care, and diagnostic services. In
the United States, WELL's
solutions are focused on specialized markets such as the
gastrointestinal market, women's health, primary care, mental
health, revenue cycle management, and practitioner recruiting. WELL
is publicly traded on the TSX under the symbol "WELL" and on the
OTC Exchange under the symbol "WHTCF". To learn more about the
Company, please visit: www.well.company.
About HEALWELL AI Inc.
HEALWELL is a healthcare technology company focused on AI and
data science for preventative care. Its mission is to improve
healthcare and save lives through early identification and
detection of disease. Using its own proprietary technology, the
Company is developing and commercializing advanced clinical
decision support systems that can help healthcare providers detect
rare and chronic diseases, improve efficiency of their practice and
ultimately help improve patient health outcomes. HEALWELL is
executing a strategy centered around developing and acquiring
technology and clinical sciences capabilities that complement the
Company's road map. HEALWELL is publicly traded on the Toronto
Stock Exchange (the "TSX") under the symbol "AIDX" and on the OTC
Exchange under the symbol "HWAIF". To learn more about HEALWELL,
please visit https://healwell.ai/.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this press release, constitute
"forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements"
(collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities laws and are based on assumptions,
expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this
press release. Forward-looking statements in this press release
includes without limitation statements relating to HEALWELL's and
WELL's anticipated benefits and synergies from having Mr. Shahbazi
appointed as Chairman, WELL's expected 2024 revenue; WELL and
HEALWELL's future plans including it's ability to execute on the
strategic alliance agreement to develop and market AI tools and
products; HEALWELL's future growth prospects and business outlook,
and the future conditions of the healthcare and healthcare AI
market. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may
differ materially from those contemplated by these statements.
Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified
by words or phrases such as "to become", "improve", "growth",
"ensuring", "continue", "anticipated", "expects", "proceed",
"potential", "future", "consider", "result in", "increase",
"deliver", "emerging", "is poised", "plan", "position",
"opportunities", "expansion", "exercise", "ensure", "achieve",
"acquire", "complete", "satisfy", "entitle", "subject to" or
variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain
future conditions, actions, events or results "will", "may",
"could", "would", "should", "might" or "can" be taken, occur or be
achieved, or the negative of any of these terms . Forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon management's perceptions of
historical trends, current conditions and expected future
developments, as well as a number of specific factors and
assumptions that, while considered reasonable by WELL and HEALWELL
as of the date of such statements, are outside of WELL and
HEALWELL's control and are inherently subject to significant
business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies
which could result in the forward-looking statements ultimately
being entirely or partially incorrect or untrue. Forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are based on various
assumptions, including, but not limited to, the following: the
satisfaction of any additional conditions by the TSX or securities
commission. Although both WELL and HEALWELL's management believes
that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such
information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. By their
nature, forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks
and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give
rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions,
projections, or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that
assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic
goals and priorities will not be achieved.
Known and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the
control of WELL and HEALWELL, could cause the actual results to
differ materially from the results, performance, achievements, or
developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such risk factors include but are not limited to those
factors which are discussed under the section entitled "Risk
Factors" in WELL's most recent annual information form dated
March 27, 2023, and in HEALWELL's
preliminary short form base shelf prospectus dated January 19, 2024, both of which are available
under their respective SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.com. The
risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the
factors that could affect WELL and HEALWELL, and the reader is
cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and
potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are
provided for the purpose of providing information about
management's expectations and plans relating to the future.
Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date
of this news release and, except as expressly required by
applicable law, WELL and HEALWELL disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual
events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent
required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements
contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary
statements.
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SOURCE WELL Health Technologies Corp.