CRH Medical Corporation and WovenX Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance GI Patient Access and Streamline Care Delivery

Article content
Collaboration merges clinical and operational expertise with virtual-first innovation to eliminate barriers to GI care.
Article content
ATLANTA & CHICAGO — CRH Medical Corporation (' CRH '), a leading provider of products and services for gastrointestinal (GI) providers and a wholly owned subsidiary of WELL Health Technologies Corp. (' WELL '), has announced a strategic partnership with WovenX Health (' WovenX '), a leader in integrated virtual specialty care. Together, they aim to deliver integrated, next-generation GI practice solutions designed to resolve persistent challenges surrounding patient access and operational capacity.
Article content
Article content
This collaboration merges CRH's clinically validated GI solutions with WovenX's advanced virtual visit platform to create a scalable framework that enhances operational performance, expands patient access, and elevates care delivery across the GI community. WovenX's on-demand service offering enables practices to increase appointment availability, unlocks underutilized capacity in high-value procedural areas, streamline workflows, and deliver timely, patient-centered care at the speed of need.
Article content
'Partnering with WovenX Health lets GI practices deliver technology-enabled, guideline-based care in minutes rather than months,' said Russ Arjal MD, AGAF, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at WovenX . 'Patients consistently praise the experience, and our Net Promoter Score ranks among the highest in healthcare. This approach enables practices to unlock new growth opportunities and capture meaningful downstream revenue. We are excited to partner with CRH to deepen our impact and expand our presence within the GI community.'
Article content
Together, WovenX and CRH are addressing long-standing barriers to access and efficiency, offering providers a cohesive and consumer-centric model for GI care.
Article content
'This partnership represents a strategic extension of the solutions we're already delivering to our GI physician customers, amplifying the value of our collaborative approach,' said Jay Kreger, CEO of CRH Medical Corporation. 'By combining CRH's GI expertise and network with WovenX's intelligent platform, we're equipping practices with the tools they need to improve patient access and outcomes, raise standards of care, and drive meaningful, long-term transformation in care delivery.'
Article content
About WELL Health Technologies Corp.
Article content
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 42,000 healthcare providers between the US and Canada and power the largest owned and operated healthcare ecosystem in Canada with more than 210 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, and mental health. WELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'WELL' and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol 'WHTCF'. To learn more about WELL, please visit: www.well.company.
Article content
CRH is a North American company focused on providing gastroenterologists with innovative services and products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. CRH also provides locum tenens and permanent placement anesthesia staffing solutions to provider groups, hospitals, and ASCs. In 2014, CRH became a full-service gastroenterology anesthesia company that provides anesthesia services for patients undergoing endoscopic procedures in ambulatory surgical centers. To date, CRH has completed 50 acquisitions, and now serves over 140 ASCs in 20 states. In addition, CRH owns the 'CRH O'Regan System,' a single-use, disposable, hemorrhoid banding technology that is safe and highly effective in treating all grades of hemorrhoids. Learn more at https://crhmedcorp.com.
Article content
About WovenX Health
Article content
Article content
Article content
For more information:
Article content
Article content
Jay Kreger
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CBC

26 minutes ago

• CBC

U.S. science funding uncertainty reshapes grad school choices for Canadians

Social Sharing After graduating with a bachelor degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Kareem Alfarra had hopes of continuing his studies in the United States. The American schools he looked at were better funded and had more opportunities than those in Canada, he said, and he'd already connected with some professors he'd like to work with. Alfarra, 22, applied to nine American universities, hoping for options, but he ended up being waitlisted and rejected for all of them. Most of them told him informally that budget uncertainties in the U.S. were making it difficult for them to accept graduate students, he said. He says one school even told him that in any normal year, he would have been accepted. "I was on top of the wait list … and I would have loved to go," he told CBC. Rather than waiting to hear, Alfarra decided to accept an offer at the University of Toronto, citing the funding uncertainty and political instability of the U.S. "I was very angry with the situation knowing that perhaps a year earlier or a few years later I would've gotten in." While that's just one student's story, universities on both sides of the border say that uncertainty brought on by the Trump administration is reducing options and upending research opportunities for graduate students — including Canadians. 'Closing off career pathways' More than 10,000 Canadians went to graduate school in the U.S. last year, according to data from the Institute for International Education, with 40 per cent pursuing science and health degrees. But there are two key federal sources that U.S. universities rely on to fund their labs and take in graduate students — the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) — that have been frozen or cut by the Trump administration. It's been a back and forth battle, with cases before the courts, and it's unclear where things will land. But the uncertainty is enough for some universities to reduce their admissions, inevitably trickling down to Canadian applicants. WATCH | How Trump's freeze on health research funding might hurt Canadian science: Canadian scientists worry after Trump pauses federal health spending 5 months ago Duration 2:01 In a statement to the CBC, the American Association of Universities described the stakes. "Federal research funding cuts are actively closing off career pathways for all prospective doctoral students from across the world, including those from the United States and Canada," said Emily Miller, vice president for research and institutional policy at the association. "Universities make a significant financial commitment when they offer admission to an aspiring scientist or researcher — a commitment that is critical to student success and one they cannot meet without federal research support." A 'turbulent' landscape For 23 year old Canadian Jaeden Bardati, research funding was a big component in his decision to pursue his PhD in astrophysics at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., two years ago. "Which is kind of ironic now," he said. on research and development in 2022; in the U.S., that figure was nearly 3.6 per cent in the same year. Bardati would ultimately like to be where the top researchers in his field are, which historically had been the U.S., he says, but that may change. Budget uncertainty makes some researchers worried whether they can maintain their labs or pay the students that work in them. Bardati says some of his classmates have been encouraged to graduate early or to fund themselves to be able to stay. "The landscape is very turbulent … the word that's been used around here is turbulent," said Bardati, which makes it difficult for students and researchers to plan for the future. "They're essentially trying to find a new home at the moment. And they're thinking, 'should I go to Europe or should I go to Canada?'" U.S. students applying north Katie Marshall, associate professor in comparative physiology at the University in British Columbia, is already starting to see the effects of this shift. She's received five applications from U.S. students to come work in her lab. "Usually, I wouldn't start seeing these kinds of applications until the fall," she said. "It's definitely unusual." Marshall also noted that the funding cuts in the U.S. are affecting research in Canada, because cross-border collaboration means Canadian researchers have gotten funding from U.S. agencies. "With less money, there's just fewer spots [for graduate students]." "When I look at who I'm going to accept, I'm looking at their research experience, " said Marshall. "If I've got a great American student, it's really hard for me to say no." While Canada can't fill the gap left by the US, it is a good time to invest in Canadian research to create more opportunities, said Marshall, noting that there has been some recent increases already.

National Post

5 hours ago

• National Post

Does rice contain arsenic? Yes, here's how you can reduce the risk

Arsenic in rice isn't a new concern, but a recent report published by Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) brought the issue back into the spotlight. The study found arsenic in all 145 rice samples bought at stores across the United States. More than a quarter surpassed 100 parts per billion (ppb) of inorganic arsenic, the Canadian and American federal limits for infant rice cereal. Article content Article content Article content Article content 'With all things to do with food safety, it comes down to reducing the risk of exposure,' says Lawrence Goodridge, a professor at the University of Guelph's Department of Food Science and director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety, who wasn't involved in the HBBF report. 'People can reduce their risk by consuming less of those foods.' Article content Arsenic was 'the poison of choice in Victorian times,' says Keith Warriner, a professor at the University of Guelph's Department of Food Science, who wasn't involved in the HBBF report. It's also ubiquitous. 'The reality is, arsenic is everywhere. So it's not a case where you can avoid it.' Article content Warriner underscores that people shouldn't stop eating rice altogether because of arsenic. After all, it's a staple of many cuisines with cultural significance and health benefits. 'It's a concern to have, but it's not 'I'm going to give up rice' because there are things we can do to minimize.' Article content Article content Here are ways to reduce the risk, from the rice you buy and how you cook it to diversifying your diet with grains lower in heavy metals such as arsenic. Article content Article content The more toxic of its chemical forms, inorganic arsenic is considered a carcinogen and is naturally present in soil and groundwater. Article content Long-term exposure has been associated with an increased risk of health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and skin lesions. When exposure happens in utero or during childhood, it 'may affect development and increase the risk of cancer in adulthood,' according to Health Canada. Article content Babies and young children are 'the real concern,' says Goodridge. The toxicity accumulates more easily because they're smaller and their body weight is lower. Article content 'Infant rice products can be a source of significant exposure,' he adds. 'It doesn't mean you can't give it to your kids, but limit it. It shouldn't be the primary grain cereal that they're fed. It shouldn't be the primary milk that they're given.'

CTV News

7 hours ago

• CTV News

Pricey TikTok skin care routines for kids raise alarms in new study

Children as young as seven are making TikTok videos about their meticulous and pricey skin care routines. Known as 'Sephora Kids,' they are the focus of a new study that raises alarms about the trend. 'We found that the skin care routines posted by creators aged 18 and under were complicated, costly, and time consuming,' lead author and dermatologist Dr. Molly Hales told 'The skin care routines offered few benefits to the young people that they were targeting, and they carried risks of irritation, skin allergy, and sun sensitivity.' Hales is a postdoctoral research fellow at Northwestern University's medical school in Chicago. For the study, Hales and another researcher created new TikTok accounts posing as 13-year-olds. They analyzed 100 skin care videos by content creators ages 7 to 18, and recorded the number and types of products that were used, as well as the total cost of each skin care regimen. On average, the content creators used six products per video. The average cost of the products used in each regimen was US$168 while the most expensive exceeded $500. The videos the researchers analyzed had an average of 1.1 million views. The 25 most-viewed videos featured products with an average of 11, and a maximum of 21, ingredients that could potentially lead to skin irritation, sun sensitivity or skin allergy. 'We found significant dermatologic risks associated with these regimens, including a very high risk of irritation,' Hales added in a news release from Northwestern University. 'That high risk of irritation came from both using multiple active ingredients at the same time, such as hydroxy acids, as well as applying the same active ingredient unknowingly over and over again when that active ingredient was found in three, four, five different products.' Only a quarter (26.2 per cent) of daytime skin regimens included sunscreen, which Hales says is an incredibly important product for young and old skin alike. 'It's really the only product that is recommended in this age group for those who don't have a known skin condition such as acne or eczema,' Hales told 'It's particularly important given that we found in our study that the most popular active ingredients in these youth skin care routines are alpha hydroxy acids, which are known to increase sun sensitivity.' In one video, a content creator applied 10 products to her face in six minutes – and quickly regretted it. 'You can see that she's turning bright red,' Hales said. 'She wraps up the video by saying, 'If anyone knows how to get it to stop burning, that would be greatly appreciated because it actually hurts a lot.'' Senior author and pharmacist Dr. Tara Lagu also noted potential harms that went beyond just product ingredients. 'We saw that there was preferential, encoded racial language in some cases that really emphasized lighter, brighter skin,'Lagu, an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University, said in the news release. 'I think there also were real associations between use of these regimens and consumerism.' Lagu got the idea for the study after asking her 12-year-old niece what she wanted for Christmas and getting a list of $300 worth of skin care products. 'After digging around a bit, she realized that nobody had done a formal study of the skin care routines that were circulating among teens and pre-teens on social media,' Hales told 'She approached me about a potential collaboration, knowing that I'm both a dermatologist and a medical anthropologist with a background in digital and social media.' Published in the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is the first peer-reviewed study of its kind. The study's authors conclude that the videos offer little to no benefit for their young audience. They also note that it can hard for parents to track what their children are viewing on TikTok because of age-based algorithms. 'I would encourage parents to make sure that their kids understand that they don't need to be using tons of costly products in order to have healthy skin, or to take care of themselves and their skin,'Hales told 'These skin care videos can be fun and playful, and given their popularity, they likely aren't going away anytime soon. But it's troubling when this content sets an unrealistic standard of beauty and then promotes it in the name of 'health.'' Dr. Elena Hope, the head of pediatric dermatology at SickKids hospital in Toronto, was not involved in the study but echoed its recommendations. She said children should avoid using products with fragrances, essential oils and retinoids, urging parents to educate themselves about potentially harmful ingredients. 'Daily moisturizers that have been tested for tolerability and sunscreens are the only recommendations we have for children,' Hope said in an email to 'All other preparations are not needed and may be harmful.'