Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2025) - HEALWELL AI Inc. (TSX: AIDX) (OTCQX: HWAIF) ("HEALWELL" or the "Company"), a healthcare artificial intelligence company focused on preventative care, today announces a number of key executive appointments to the Company's senior leadership team to reflect HEALWELL's focus on building a high-impact leadership team to guide the Company as it shifts to its next phase of growth, scaling its world-class AI technology and health data interoperability capabilities to become a global leader in healthcare technology and artificial intelligence.
Hamed Shahbazi, Chairman of HEALWELL commented, "After a period of intense M&A activity, HEALWELL is entering into a new phase of growth. The acquisition of Orion Health presents a number of significant and timely market opportunities for the Company. The HEALWELL Board of Directors has undertaken to expand the Company's executive function to ensure the Company can execute on its objective of integrating its units and delivering a more holistic customer offering to meet the burgeoning demand for AI and healthcare data operability globally. To that end, we're very excited to appoint Mr. James Lee, a proven leader, as the new CEO of HEALWELL. James will work very closely with Dr. Alexander Dobranowski, who will transition to the role of President and continue to drive critical leadership functions for the Company. James and Alex will be well supported by the new executive appointment of Sacha Gera as Chief Operating Officer and the recent appointment of Brad Porter as Chief Commercial Officer. We'd like to extend a very warm welcome to James, Sacha and Brad to the team, and thank Alex for all his hard work over the past 18 months as he steps into his new role as President of the Company. We have an outstanding team that is ready to take HEALWELL to the next level."
Mr. James Lee will step into the role of Chief Executive Officer effective July 1, 2025, to lead the transformation of HEALWELL into an integrated and connected business focused on redefining preventative healthcare with the use of data science and artificial intelligence. Mr. Lee joined HEALWELL in January 2025 as Chief Strategy Officer where he has been preparing the Company's integration strategy.
Dr. Alexander Dobranowski will transition to President of the Company and continue to be a member of the Board of Directors. He will be increasingly focused on the acceleration of the Company's AI and data science solutions with large enterprise customers in the life sciences sector as well as continue to lead the Company's capital markets activities. Under the leadership of Dr. Dobranowski, HEALWELL experienced unprecedented growth, completed six strategic acquisitions and raised over $100 million in capital. Dr. Dobranowski has been with HEALWELL since its inception, leading the Company through its rapid expansion.
Mr. Sacha Gera has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of HEALWELL. In addition to overseeing day-to-day operations, Mr. Gera will also be responsible for setting and executing the Company's technology strategy, integrating all aspects of the business and driving organizational alignment across HEALWELL's various divisions to ensure cohesive and efficient execution of the Company's strategy.
Mr. Brad Porter, currently Chief Executive Officer at Orion Health, has also recently taken on the role of Chief Commercial Officer of the Company, given the significant and larger-than-anticipated revenue opportunities across the combined HEALWELL and Orion Health platforms. Mr. Porter will retain his duties at Orion Health while helping drive HEALWELL's revenue growth and global commercialization strategy. In this critical role, Mr. Porter will also be responsible for distribution of HEALWELL's AI capabilities across the Orion Health network, with a strong focus on public sector opportunities and government contracts.
James Lee, the incoming CEO of HEALWELL, commented, "I am thrilled to be joining HEALWELL at such a pivotal moment in the Company's journey. The HEALWELL leadership team has built a remarkable company driven by purpose, fueled by innovation, and ready to lead a global transformation in healthcare artificial intelligence. Now as we step into a new phase of growth, our strategic focus is on integration, execution, and unlocking the full global potential of our AI and healthcare data solutions. In the short time since closing the Orion Health acquisition, we have already begun pursuing high impact opportunities as a unified platform and with the strengthening of our executive team, we are aligning the Company to capture what we now believe are even greater opportunities than originally anticipated. I am excited to work with a team so deeply committed to its mission of transforming healthcare delivery and improving patient outcomes and look forward to leading HEALWELL into a new era of growth and global scale."
Dr. Alexander Dobranowski, President of HEALWELL, commented, "HEALWELL has undergone massive growth since its inception, and I am immensely proud of what we've achieved. HEALWELL is entering an exciting new chapter in which I am excited to work alongside and support our new CEO, James Lee, to guide the Company through its next stage of transformational growth. I look forward to working closely with our new team as we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. I'd like to sincerely thank Adam Hutton and Paulo Gomes, our previous co-COOs who are leaving the organization to pursue other opportunities, for their unwavering dedication and contributions in getting us to where we are today-and for laying the strong foundation upon which we will continue to build upon."
James Lee - Chief Executive Officer
James Lee brings over two decades of experience leading large-scale multi-national enterprises in financial services with deep experience in strategic growth and capital allocation to his role as Chief Executive Officer of HEALWELL. Prior to joining HEALWELL, James served as CEO of Jarden New Zealand, where he played a pivotal role in expanding the firm's investment banking footprint and delivering record-breaking growth across capital markets. Under James' leadership, Jarden emerged as one of New Zealand's leading financial institutions, experiencing significant growth in market share, and executing some of Australasia's most high-profile transactions. James led Jarden through a period of rapid transformation, expanding its services across Australasia, including a full brand and cultural evolution.
In addition to his role at Jarden, James has held senior positions in banking and has been a strategic advisor to various startups and boards. He is known for his ability to navigate complex markets, foster high-performing teams, and drive innovation across traditional sectors. His cross-industry experience positions him uniquely to lead the intersection of healthcare and technology, by combining both a sense of purpose with the needs of the capital markets. James holds a degree in Commerce and is widely recognized for his collaborative leadership style and sharp strategic vision.
Sacha Gera - Chief Operating Officer
Sacha Gera is a seasoned C-Level executive, board member, and entrepreneur renowned for driving innovation, global scalability, and profitable recurring revenue growth across SaaS, AI, Cybersecurity, and Telecoms/ICT. His extensive leadership experience includes serving as former CEO of JSI, co-founder & President of Kandy Communications, and President of Calian Group's IT & Cybersecurity business unit. Currently, Sacha contributes his expertise as a board member for Exfo and the Ottawa Board of Trade.
Recognized with the 2024 NetIP Leadership Award for professionalism, philanthropy, community work, and leadership, as well as the 2019 Forty Under 40 award by the OBJ, Sacha holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business and a Bachelor of Computer Systems Engineering from Carleton University.
Brad Porter - Chief Commercial Officer and CEO of Orion
Brad Porter, Chief Executive Officer of Orion Health, brings over 15 years of experience in finance, commercial leadership, and global healthcare technology. A Chartered Accountant by training, he began his career at KPMG before moving to London, where he held investment and advisory roles with Coller Capital and Kinetic Partners. He later returned to New Zealand to join Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.
At Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Brad held senior commercial roles, including serving as General Manager - Commercial (International Sales), where he helped lead a 1,500-person global sales organization distributing to over 100+ countries. During his tenure, the company's revenue grew from NZ$815 million to nearly NZ$2 billion, and its direct international footprint expanded from 30 to more than 50 countries. These experiences deepened his expertise in global healthcare operations, commercial execution, and strategic leadership.
Brad was appointed CEO of Orion Health in 2022, where he has overseen a renewed focus on innovation in health data platforms, patient engagement, and readiness for AI-enabled care. He will continue in this role while also serving as Chief Commercial Officer of HEALWELL, where he will be responsible for group-wide commercial strategy, revenue growth, and go-to-market alignment across the organization's portfolio of companies.
James Lee Chief Executive Officer HEALWELL AI Inc.
About HEALWELL AI
HEALWELL is a healthcare artificial intelligence company focused on 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 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, including the Company's strategic plan and opportunities for growth and integration; and the specific roles to be played by each of the Company's senior executives and the anticipated timing of implementing various changes to the Company's executive functions. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "building", "scaling", "to become", "opportunity", "burgeoning", "continue to", "focus", "believe", "pursue", "entering", "growth", "expect", "intend", "anticipate" 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 HEALWELL as of the date of such statements, are outside of 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: HEALWELL's ability to successfully integrate and scale recently acquired businesses, products and services with its own; HEALWELL's ability to maintain and leverage is relationships with its commercial partners; the continued adoption of the software, tools and solutions created by HEALWELL; that HEALWELL will be successful in identifying and executing on new acquisitions, investments and/or partnerships; the stability of general economic and market conditions; sufficiency of working capital and access to financing; HEALWELL's ability to comply with applicable laws and regulations; HEALWELL's continued compliance with third party intellectual property rights; the effects of competition in the industry; the requirement for increasingly innovative product solutions and service offerings; technologies working as intended or at all; trends in customer growth and the adoption of new technologies in the industry; ; and that the risk factors noted below, collectively, do not have a material impact on HEALWELL's business, operations, revenues and/or results. 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 HEALWELL, could cause the actual results of HEALWELL 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 HEALWELL's most recent annual information form dated March 31, 2025, which is available under HEALWELL's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. The risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect 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. 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.
For more information:
Pardeep S. Sangha Investor Relations, HEALWELL AI Inc. Phone: 604-572-6392 ir@healwell.ai
