By Jaimie Clark – Head of Innovation and Venture Strategy, Catalyst by Wellstar
Healthcare innovation is often framed in buzzwords: disruption, transformation, value propositions. But at Catalyst, we look beyond the jargon. Behind every slide deck and pilot project is a real person.
A woman navigating the complexities of menopause while striving to lead a team at work.
A young woman curious and concerned about her risk for breast cancer.
A provider under pressure to do the impossible in a 15-minute visit.
Those aren’t edge cases. They are the heart of the system, and too often, they are underserved. As Head of Innovation and Venture Strategy, my mission is simple: connect bold ideas with the real-world systems that shape care delivery. Designing the bridge that connects early-stage solutions and large-scale systems is how we can move needle faster, with intention, and for the person that is sometimes overlooked.
At Catalyst, we look beyond the jargon. Behind every slide deck and pilot project is a real person.
Jaimie Clark – Head of Innovation and Venture Strategy, Catalyst by Wellstar
That bridge matters. The US healthcare industry wasn’t designed with women in mind. From research funding gaps to workflow designs, women’s health long been over-looked, fragmented, and deprioritized. That’s why Catalyst’s venture model is different. We don’t just invest in companies; we partner with founders, clinicians, and communities to co-create impact.
Two companies that exemplify this are Gabbi and Elektra Health.
Gabbi, founded by Kaitlin Christine, exists to end late-stage breast cancer. That’s not a slogan. It’s her lived mission. After losing her mother to a missed diagnosis and facing her own cancer at 24, Kaitlin built a platform that uses data to predict breast cancer risk and deliver individualized screening plans. For Wellstar, Gabbi is a new pathway to precision prevention. We’ve brought Gabbi into our health system not just as a partner, but as a care collaborator. Together, we are moving toward a model where early detection is the default, not the exception.
And our Catalyst Voice community, nearly 160,000 community members helping us shape the future of healthcare, agree: in a recent survey with nearly 1,700 responses, 68% of women say menopause isn’t discussed openly in society and 72% would likely use a digital support tool, especially if it was personalized, easy to use and covered by insurance.
Elektra provides evidence-based, digital care that meets women where they are. Our partnership with them helps Wellstar close the gap in midlife care, ensuring our patients receive support through every stage, not just the ones that have traditionally received attention such as childbearing.
These aren’t ancillary programs. They are central to the future of healthcare.
Working with these startups requires more than capital. It demands a model that embraces creativity, methodical risk, builds internal champions, and creates feedback loops between caregivers and founders. At Catalyst, we pair every venture investment with operational collaboration in the shape of pilots, provider engagement, patient experience studies, and more, because that’s what turns good ideas into lasting care models.
Breaking barriers is hard. But it’s necessary. Because if we want a future where healthcare is equitable, efficient, and personal, we must be willing to invest in solutions born from lived experience, redesigning our systems around the people they serve.
Healthcare is personal. Innovation should be too.
