Chicago-based specialty care platform recognized for expanding access to timely GI care

CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — WovenX Health, a Chicago-based specialty care platform, today announced it has won the Industry Disrupter Award at 1871’s 19th Annual Momentum Awards, recognizing its approach to expanding access to gastroenterology (GI) care. WovenX connects patients to guidelines-based GI care in minutes instead of weeks, using a comprehensive GI care platform and a national provider network.

WovenX was selected from a competitive field of finalists across eight categories, judged by a panel of Chicago investors, operators, and industry leaders. The company was honored alongside this year’s other Momentum Award winners: Deloitte (Corporate Champion), Jeremie Bacon (Chicagoness), Eventnoire (Social Impact), Tim Huelskamp (Outstanding Tech CEO), Changed (Rising Star), Letter AI (Momentum), and noto (CityLIGHTS).

“This award recognizes something our team has believed from day one: improving specialty access means matching the right clinician to the right moment in a patient’s care journey. We built WovenX after watching people in our own lives wait months for GI care they needed urgently. This recognition is for them and for the team and clinical partners helping patients get care sooner,” said Sheri Rudberg, Co-Founder and CEO of WovenX Health.

One in five Americans is affected by a gastrointestinal condition, yet the average wait for a GI consult has grown to 40 days nationally. Two-thirds of U.S. counties have no practicing GI specialist, and GI-related visits account for 10% of all emergency department visits, 86% of which are avoidable with timely access to care. WovenX’s model is built to help patients reach specialty care sooner.

Starting in GI, WovenX’s model is designed to improve access and reduce avoidable costs in four ways:

• Reducing ED visits by giving patients a real-time alternative to the emergency room for GI concerns that don’t require it.
• Optimizing site of care by helping appropriate patients access outpatient or in-office procedural care.
• Supporting screening completion by simplifying the path from initial assessment to appropriate screening and removing friction from follow-up colonoscopy when required.
• Enabling earlier diagnosis by shortening the time between a patient’s symptoms and a specialist’s evaluation.

Patients access care through the WovenX platform, which delivers OnDemand virtual visits (no advance appointment required, and a median wait time of only 11 minutes) and Fast Track pathways that help them reach appropriate procedures. The platform’s Precision Supervision model combines specialty-trained advanced practice providers, AI-supported guideline checks, and board-certified physician oversight. By embedding clinical intelligence into care workflows, the platform helps clinicians extend their expertise to more patients and connects virtual care with in-person services when needed.

1871 is Chicago’s leading innovation hub, supporting founders, investors, and the broader entrepreneurial community for 14 years. The Momentum Awards, now in their 19th year, celebrate the founders, leaders, and community builders driving Chicago’s technology and innovation economy.

“WovenX is grateful to this community for recognizing how transformative the platform and model are for the way specialty care is delivered,” said Rudberg.

About WovenX Health

WovenX Health is a Chicago-based, AI-enabled specialty care platform founded by Sheri Rudberg (Co-Founder and CEO), Dr. Russ Arjal (Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer), and Nakort Valles Leon (Co-Founder and CTO/COO). WovenX’s Precision Supervision model weaves AI, specialty-trained advanced practice providers, and board-certified physician oversight into a single care team, giving patients real-time access without sacrificing clinical rigor. The company launched in gastroenterology with two products: OnDemand, for real-time virtual GI visits, and Fast Track, for streamlined access to screening and procedural care. It plans to bring the same model to additional specialties.

WovenX was founded after Rudberg experienced firsthand how long it could take a family member to access specialty GI care, and Dr. Arjal, a practicing gastroenterologist, saw those same delays allow colorectal cancer to advance in his own patients.

Learn more at wovenxhealth.com.

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SOURCE WovenX Health