Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Morristown, New Jersey-based Atlantic Health System, has been selected to become chairman of the American Hospital Association’s board of trustees beginning in 2019.

He first joined the AHA board in 2015, the same year he took over at the six-hospital Atlantic Health System. Previous roles include senior vice president in the community division at John Hopkins Medicine, as well as president/CEO roles at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and WellSpan Health in York, Pennsylvania.

“More than ever, now is a critically important and exciting time to be a leader in the health care field as we drive the transformation of care in America,” Gragnolati said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the AHA’s members across the country in support of the association’s mission to advance the health of individuals and communities.”

According to the AHA, Gragnolati began his career as an emergency medical technician. He earned a B.S. in Health Systems Analysis from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Western New England College. He is also a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The chair of the AHA board is the highest elected office at the association. Gragnaloti’s 2019 tenure will follow that of current chair Eugene Woods, president and CEO of Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte, and chair-elect Nancy Howell Agee, president and CEO of Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va.