Diversinet Corp. has appointed Dr. Hon Pak – a healthcare IT innovator and former American Telemedicine Association president – as its interim CEO.
Pak, a physician who until recently served as CIO of the U.S. Army Medical Department, succeeds Albert Wahbe, who has retired as Diversinet CEO but remains Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.
Pak’s military experience is especially pertinent as Diversinet is working with the Army to expand deployment of the company’s MobiSecure® technology to support the mCare telehealth program for wounded soldiers.
Veteran Healthcare IT Executive Succeeds Retiring CEO
TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2011 – Diversinet Corp. (TSX Venture: DIV, OTCBB: DVNTF), a leader in “Connected and Protected” mobile healthcare communications, has appointed Dr. Hon Pak as its interim Chief Executive Officer. Dr Pak succeeds Albert Wahbe, who has retired as CEO but will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors until March 31, 2012. Dr. Pak has served on the company’s executive advisory board since September.
“Dr. Pak brings the perfect blend of extensive medical and technology knowledge along with strong leadership experience,” stated Wahbe. “His healthcare expertise will help lead our team in managing several now fully-functional MobiSecure® deployments and the further market penetration of our leading secure mobile applications.”
Diversinet’s Board expressed their appreciation for Wahbe’s many contributions as CEO and particularly for helping to establish the company’s leadership position as a recognized innovator in secured mobile healthcare.
Pak is a recently retired Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the U.S. Army Medical Department, an $11 billion healthcare system with more than 60,000 employees. He was the Army’s first Chief Medical Information Officer before his promotion to CIO. Pak also previously served as president of the American Telemedicine Association, leading the effort on global health and standards development for telehealth. In addition, he has also headed the Advanced Information Technology Group within the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, which has served as the U.S. Department of Defense health IT research and development arm.
“Healthcare is starting to undergo significant changes, becoming more outcome based and patient centered,” Pak said. “Mobility will be critical for healthcare organizations to achieve this transformation. Diversinet, with its proven and secure mobile development platform, is well positioned to meet this demand. I decided to join Diversinet because of my passion for its technology and even more importantly, its people.”
Pak is recognized for the design and development of a health IT strategy around patient-centered care and as an innovator who helped transform Army Medicine into a systems based organization. He also shaped a federal investment in electronic health record exchanges and health information technology for active military, veteran and civilian populations. He holds a medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and completed a fellowship in dermatology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Pak is a distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy.
About Diversinet
Diversinet Corp. (TSX Venture: DIV, OTCBB: DVNTF) provides patented and proven secure products that enable healthcare organizations to rapidly deploy HIPAA-compliant mobile healthcare (mHealth) applications to anyone, anytime, anywhere, on mobile devices. Learn more about how Diversinet is delivering “Healthcare. Connected and Protected” at www.diversinet.com.
