Howard Brown Health welcomes healthcare operations leader Melba Ansah as Chief Operating Officer. Ambulatory operations expert joins Midwest's leading LGBTQ+ health center to advance access, efficiency and patient-centered care CHICAGO - Howard Brown Health today announced that Melba Ansah, MBA, BS, joined the organization as its new Chief Operating Officer, bolstering the leadership of one of the largest healthcare institutions in the country serving LGBTQ+ people and others seeking affirming care. Ansah brings 30 years of healthcare experience across academic medicine, private practice and consulting, with a proven track record of expanding patient access, optimizing clinical operations, and strengthening workforce structures to enhance care delivery. Ansah joins Howard Brown with a deep commitment to ensuring that operational strategy and execution directly support compassionate, high-quality, patient-centered care. "I am honored to join Howard Brown Health to help advance its mission of providing high-quality, affirming care to LGBTQ+ patients and others in need of compassionate care," Ansah said. "I look forward to partnering with teams across the organization to strengthen operations, expand access, and ensure our systems and processes truly reflect the needs and experiences of the communities we serve." Prior to joining Howard Brown Health, Ansah served as Executive Director of Ambulatory Operations and Strategic Initiatives at UChicago Medicine, where she directed long-range strategic planning for 30 specialty clinics with an average monthly volume of 34,000 completed appointments. In that role, she managed a $100 million operational budget and led local implementation efforts to ensure consistent, high- quality, patient-centered services. Also at UChicago Medicine, Ansah coordinated major ambulatory construction projects to ensure on-time delivery with minimal disruption to clinical care, including oversight of budgeting and P&L management. She collaborated closely with cross-functional leaders in ambulatory quality and safety, care coordination, technology, customer service and process improvement, while providing direct leadership to a team of four directors and a project manager, and operational influence over approximately 450 staff across departments. "Melba's experience in complex healthcare environments and her passion for improving the patient and staff experience make her an ideal fit for Howard Brown Health," said Dr. Travis Gayles, President and CEO of Howard Brown Health. "Her leadership will be instrumental as we continue to grow our services and improve access to affirming care for LGBTQ+ people and the communities we serve." Previously, Ansah served as Director of Operations at Northwestern Medicine, where she held progressive leadership roles supporting ambulatory services across the Chicago area. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Leadership from National Louis University and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Management from Roosevelt University. Ansah assumes the role effective August 10. About Howard Brown Health Howard Brown Health provides high-quality, integrated, patient-centered care that affirms each patient's identity and experiences at seven health centers across Chicago. As the Midwest's leading health center dedicated to whole-person care for the LGBTQ+ community and others seeking affirming care, Howard Brown offers a range of patient services including medical care, behavioral care, dental care, young adult care, sexual care, and aging adult care. Howard Brown is recognized as a federally qualified health center and serves more than 43,000 adults and youth each year, regardless of their health insurance coverage status and ability to pay. Learn more at: https://howardbrown.org/

University of Chicago Medicine to open freestanding cancer center in April 2027. The 575,000-square-foot facility aims to remedy health disparities impacting patients on the South Side. The University of Chicago Medicine's new cancer center is on track to open next spring, officials told South Side residents on Tuesday, July 14, marking the final stretch of a yearslong project to bring comprehensive cancer care to a community where death rates from the disease are nearly twice the national rate. The AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion, a 575,000-square-foot facility located north of 57th Street between Maryland and Drexel avenues on the Medical Center's West Hyde Park campus, is scheduled to welcome its first patients in April 2027. It will be Illinois' first freestanding facility dedicated exclusively to cancer care, according to UChicago Medicine. UChicago Medicine officials laid out the specifications for the $815 million project during a community meeting at the Crown School of Social Work, 951 East 58th Street. The event featured Dr. Mitchell C. Posner, chief clinical officer of the new cancer center, Kimyatta Washington, vice president and chief administrative officer of cancer services, and Catina Latham, senior vice president for community health transformation and chief equity officer. Construction on the cancer center broke ground in September 2023 after a state board approved the project. Its cost grew from an initial estimate of $633 million to $815 million, supported in part by a $75 million donation from the AbbVie Foundation after which the center is named. UChicago Medicine officials said the need for the facility was rooted in stark health disparities. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death on the South Side, according to UChicago Medicine's 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment. Latham said the need assessments, conducted every three years, repeatedly identified cancer as a top concern, along with the difficulty of finding nearby screening and treatment. "We learned from this study that people needed access to care, people needed screenings so that they could find and detect cancer early. People needed help with insurance costs and navigating the entire healthcare system, and so we wanted to respond to those needs," Latham said. About 56% of South Side patients left the area for care and 67% of cancer patients left for inpatient treatment specifically due in part to capacity constraints at UChicago Medicine. "When I come in every morning and see that building going up, I know that my neighbors, my family, will be able to have access to world-class care and not leave our community," Latham, who lives in Bronzeville, said. "That's so important." The pavilion will house 80 inpatient beds, 90 consultation rooms, and 67 chemotherapy infusion bays. Washington said the building was designed with "shelf space" that would allow the hospital to expand capacity to as many as 124 beds if demand exceeds the available space. In response to a question as to whether that would be enough space, she said that "many of the therapies that before we thought needed to be in the hospital are actually shifting to the outpatient setting." The facility will consolidate cancer services now spread across five buildings on the medical campus and will include an Oncology Rapid Assessment Clinic designed to let patients undergoing treatment bypass the emergency department when they develop fevers or uncontrolled pain. A parking deck bridge will connect directly to the second-floor clinic. Washington said the first floor will function as a community space open to anyone, whether or not they have an appointment, with acupuncture, access to social workers focused on prevention and screening education and also a teaching kitchen. "It's important to teach patients how to eat well while undergoing treatment," she said. "But it's also important to understand how we should eat today in order to try to prevent cancers." Patient and family amenities will include private rooms with sleeper sofas, showers and laundry facilities, along with video-visit technology for families who cannot be present in person. The building will serve adult cancer patients only. Pediatric oncology will remain based at Comer Children's Hospital, though Washington said the new center will work with Comer to draw a "bridge between our two programs" as the latter sees a rise in early onset cancer cases. The UChicago Medicine Ralph Lauren Center, funded in part by a $25 million grant from the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation, will open its first location at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey this year, Washington said, with a second location inside the new pavilion when it opens in 2027. The center is intended to expand screening, prevention, and patient navigation services. Posner said expanding access to clinical trials will be a cornerstone of the new center, and that patients enrolled in trials receive the best care and experience the best outcomes. "There have been bad things that have happened in the past, but clinical trials in this day and age are very different," he said. Trials are also important, Posner added, because they "can improve care today and shape the future for generations to come." UChicago Medicine already has the highest rate of enrolling minority patients in clinical trials in the country, Posner said, and is considering moving toward a model in which "you don't have to opt in for a clinical trial, you actually have to opt out." UChicago Medicine officials also addressed concerns about the cost of care amid coming changes to Medicaid eligibility that are expected to result in an estimated 330,000 Illinoisans losing coverage. Latham said the health system is preparing to help patients understand the changes and find coverage, and Washington pointed to the system's broader community benefit spending, which included more than $900 million on the South Side. But some attendees pressed UChicago Medicine officials on whether that spending was making enough of an impact. Dr. Byron Brazier, pastor of the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, said the university has struggled to show residents the tangible effects of its spending. "It's really important that you all communicate exactly what you're doing," he said. Latham agreed. "We need to do a better job of messaging the impact that we're having," she said. "That is something that we're working on." Max Blaisdell is the staff writer for the Hyde Park Herald. Join the conversation. * ron says: August 1, 2026 at 10:06am How they get all that money? Yet they let other hospitals close for lack of money. Reply

Ceribell expands Board of Directors with appointments of Thomas West and Sharon O'Keefe. Medtech market-builder Thomas West and health system operator Sharon O'Keefe join Ceribell as point-of-care brain monitoring advances toward standard of care. July 29, 2026 07:00 ET | Source: Ceribell SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - CeriBell, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBLL) ("Ceribell"), a medical technology company focused on transforming the diagnosis and management of patients with serious neurological conditions, today announced the appointments of Thomas "Tom" West and Sharon O'Keefe to its Board of Directors. The new directors bring commercial and health-system leadership experience to the Board as the company expands adoption of its point-of-care brain monitoring platform, now deployed in more than 680 U.S. hospitals. "We are thrilled to welcome Tom and Sharon to our Board," said Rebecca "Beckie" Robertson, chair of the Ceribell Board of Directors. "Tom has spent his career scaling medical technologies from clinical validation to broad commercial adoption and market leadership, and Sharon has led some of the country's largest academic health systems. Their highly complementary experience will be invaluable as Ceribell works to cement its category leadership through innovation and provide greater access to point-of-care brain monitoring." West served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Nalu Medical Inc., a neurostimulation company in the pain space that was acquired by Boston Scientific for $600 million in January of 2026. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Intersect ENT from 2019 to 2022, leading the company through its acquisition by Medtronic for $1.1 billion. Earlier in his career, he served as Worldwide President of Diagnostic Solutions at Hologic and spent more than two decades at Johnson & Johnson, where he led the worldwide diabetes portfolio strategy and business development, and served as Division President of LifeScan North America and Division President of LifeScan EMEA. He also serves as a director on the boards of SI-BONE, Inc., Cyted Health Inc. and ViCentra Inc. and previously served on the boards of Inogen, Inc. and Orthofix Inc. "Ceribell has established a new category in point-of-care brain monitoring, supported by a growing body of clinical evidence and rapid user adoption," said West. "I look forward to working with the board and the management team to help further expand its reach as Ceribell enters its next chapter of growth." O'Keefe most recently served as President of the University of Chicago Medical Center and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Chicago Medicine health system, where she oversaw more than $2 billion in annual operating revenue. She has also served as President of Loyola University Medical Center, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Chief Operating Officer of Barnes-Jewish Hospital. In 2013, Modern Healthcare named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. "Health system leaders are increasingly focused on adopting high-value tools that support timely, accurate decisions at the bedside, enable better clinical outcomes, and reduce patient transfer rates. Ceribell's innovative brain monitoring platform aligns perfectly with this goal," said O'Keefe. "I am honored to join Ceribell's board and to contribute to its mission of improving care for patients with serious neurological conditions." _______________________________ Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other statements that are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "will," "may," "could," "likely," "ongoing," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "assume," "target," "forecast," "guidance," "goal," "objective," "aim," "seek," "potential," "hope," and other words of similar meaning. These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Such risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those related to regulatory approvals, clinical use and adoption, clinical outcomes, market acceptance, competition, and other factors, are described under the "Risk Factors" sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These filings are available on the SEC's website at https://sec.gov/ and on Ceribell's website at https://investors.ceribell.com/. Ceribell undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. About CeriBell, Inc. Ceribell is a medical technology company focused on transforming the diagnosis and management of patients with serious neurological conditions. Ceribell has developed the Ceribell System, a novel, point-of-care electroencephalography ("EEG") platform specifically designed to address the unmet needs of patients in the acute-care setting. By combining proprietary, highly portable, and rapidly deployable hardware with sophisticated artificial intelligence ("AI")-powered algorithms, the Ceribell System enables rapid diagnosis and continuous monitoring of patients with neurological conditions. The Ceribell System is FDA-cleared for use in detecting seizure and delirium in intensive care units and emergency rooms across the U.S. Ceribell is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, please visit http://www.ceribell.com or follow the company on LinkedIn. Investor Contact Brian Johnston or Caylene Parrish Gilmartin Group [email protected]