VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2004--Healthbridge Inc. (OTCBB: HHBR) (Berlin Stock Exchange: HBZ) today announced the appointment of James Ladner to the board of directors of Healthbridge’s wholly owned subsidiary Healthbridge (Deutschland) AG. Ladner is an international financial consultant who resides in Zurich, Switzerland.
Ladner began his professional career at Handelsbank in Zurich which later became a subsidiary of the National Westminster Bank in Switzerland where he was employed for 28 years. During his tenure at the National Westminster Bank, Ladner rose to the position of executive vice president. After leaving the bank, Ladner co-founded Rauscher Pierce & Co. International (“R P & C”), an investment banking boutique with offices in New York and London. Ladner acted as a managing director of R P & C until 2002. Over time Ladner has served on the board of directors of several companies, most of which have been financial institutions. He acted as the non-executive chairman of the board of Bank of Austria (Switzerland), director of The Royal Bank of Scotland AG, the Japanese Asahi Bank (Switzerland) and Interallianz Bank. Ladner currently serves on the board of directors of F. van Lanschot Bankiers (Switzerland), Energy Capital Investment Co. Plc and Strata Gold Corp. Ladner graduated in economics and business administration from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Healthbridge is the exclusive owner of the Valides(R) System, a progressive technology designed for infectious medical waste sterilization and disposal. The Valides(R) System was developed in Germany to combat the global environmental problems associated with the sterilization and disposal of infectious medical wastes generated by hospitals, laboratories, dental offices, clinics, blood banks and other healthcare sector facilities. Growing concern over the potential effects of infectious waste disposal on our environment has caused regulators worldwide to impose increasingly rigid air quality, health and safety standards for incinerator or landfill disposal. Tougher standards have caused a prohibitive escalation of the costs associated with the disposal of infectious waste. Medical facilities around the world are in dire need of an effective solution that balances legitimate concerns over the environment with the cost-effective disposal of medical waste.
Healthbridge (Deutschland) AG recently announced its first sale of Valides(R) System to the newly constructed London Hospital, located in Kuwait City, with delivery of this unit scheduled for May 2004. Healthbridge is to provide consulting support to the staff of the London Hospital to ensure proper training in the efficient use of the Valides(R) System. Once the initial equipment is fully operational, GBD General Trading Co., a local Kuwaiti distributor, has indicated a need for five additional units to meet medical waste sterilization and disposal requirements at other locations.
Healthbridge anticipates that the appointment of Ladner to the board of directors of Healthbridge (Deutschland) AG will be beneficial to the company in its efforts to secure sufficient capital to expand the introduction of the Valides(R) System on a worldwide basis.
A number of statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including timely development, and market acceptance of products and technologies, competitive market conditions, successful integration of acquisitions and the ability to secure additional sources of financing. The actual results that Healthbridge may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Healthbridge encourages the public to read the information provided here in conjunction with its most recent filings on Form 10KSB and Form 10QSB. Healthbridge Inc. public filings may be viewed at www.sec.gov.
Contacts
Healthbridge Inc.
Nora Coccaro, 604-602-1717 noracoccaro@attglobal.net Markus Mueller, 0041 1 280 5066 muller@fes.ch