Atlantic Health System Announces CEO Gragnolati’s Intended Retirement

Brian Gragnolati continues in current role until successor named.

On Dec 4, 2024

The Atlantic Health System Board of Trustees has announced that President & Chief Executive Officer Brian Gragnolati plans to retire. He will continue in his current role until the Board completes a successor search and the selected individual steps into the CEO role. At that time, Gragnolati will transition to a role as a special advisor to the Board.

Leader of the health system’s mission-driven strategic expansion since 2015, Gragnolati has enjoyed a 45-year career supporting patients and caregivers across the nation, including service as Board Chair of the American Hospital Association in 2019.

“Brian’s lifelong commitment to building healthier communities – from his very first role as an emergency medical technician – has been our north star for the last decade,” said Board Chair Robert McCracken. “His thoughtful, inclusive leadership empowered our Board and team to navigate an unprecedented global pandemic, the transformative journey to value-based care, and record setting growth across New Jersey. Along with our deepest thanks, the entire Atlantic Health System family extends our warmest wishes to Brian for his extremely well-deserved next chapter.”

Under Gragnolati’s leadership, Atlantic Health System has been continually recognized for high-quality, compassionate care, surpassing national benchmarks set by U.S. News & World Report, The Leapfrog Group, Healthgrades, and more. The reach of the not-for-profit has grown significantly over the last decade, powered by 5,400 physicians and 21,000 team members at 550 distinct sites of care across 14 counties.

Gragnolati was committed to measuring organizational success by the number of lives touched by the system. Atlantic Health now cares for more than one million people annually, up 50% from the CEO’s arrival. Guided by strong strategic planning, the system’s workplace culture and innovative spirit has been recognized time and again by Forbes, Becker’s Healthcare, Newsweek, CHIME, Fortune, and Modern Healthcare, and in 2019, Modern Healthcare named Gragnolati to their list of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.

“Stepping away from a profession that means so much to me is challenging, but the time is right,” noted Gragnolati. “Ten years at Atlantic Health System have flown by, working alongside truly special people who care for people. The last decade has been a capstone to my 45 years in health care, and I now find myself looking forward more and more to time with my growing family, who live across the country.”

Prior to his tenure at Atlantic Health, he served as senior vice president, community division of Johns Hopkins Medicine and as president and CEO of Suburban Hospital. He also previously held executive positions at WellSpan Health in Pennsylvania, Medical Center Hospital of Vermont (now University of Vermont Health Network), and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Gragnolati is a member of the Board of Directors of Provident Financial Services, LLC, serving the financial needs of businesses and individuals in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. He also serves as executive partner of Concord Health Partners, a healthcare-focused investment firm, and as a director of Revology, a firm pursuing technology-enabled health care revenue cycle management. Gragnolati formerly served on the Board for Millburn’s Paper Mill Playhouse and as an Advisory Trustee for Liberty Science Center in Jersey City.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Systems Analysis from the University of Connecticut, an MBA from Western New England College, and an Executive Leadership Certificate from the JFK School at Harvard University.

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