Dr. Shereef Elnahal has served as president and CEO of University Hospital in Newark since 2019. Now, he’s up for a big promotion.

On March 9, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate 12 individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration, including Elnahal as his pick for under secretary for health, Veterans Health Administration at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statement after the announcement, saying, “Everyone who has worked with Shereef, myself included, knows that President Biden has made the right choice in asking him to serve as Under Secretary for Health for the Veterans Health Administration at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. When I asked Shereef to join my administration as our first Commissioner of Health in 2018, it was because of his record in improving transparency and care for our nation’s veterans as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health. Both in his roles as Commissioner and as CEO of University Hospital, Shereef brought together diverse communities and put equity at the forefront of his work. Moreover, his efforts at ensuring the ability of University Hospital to serve all needing care throughout the COVID pandemic have been nothing short of herculean.”

While I am sad to see him leave New Jersey, I know that the VA and our nation’s veterans will be the better for his returning expertise and knowledge in one of the federal government’s truly consequential posts.

— Gov. Phil Murphy

Before leading the University Hospital in Newark, Elnahal served as New Jersey’s 21st health commissioner, appointed by Murphy and confirmed unanimously by the state Senate. He was the first Muslim member of New Jersey’s Cabinet in state history.

He also served as assistant deputy under secretary for health for quality, safety, and value at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from 2016 through 2018. He co-founded the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, a program that continues to foster the spread of innovation and best practices that improve veteran care across the nation, the White House said in the statement.

During the pandemic, Elnahal set up one of the first COVID-19 vaccination sites in New Jersey, vaccinating the state’s first health care worker on Dec. 15, 2020.

His community-based programming announcements include a partnership with a developer and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Financing Authority to provide supportive housing to homeless patients; a hospital-based violence intervention program that has served as a national model; and a program that deploys trusted chaplains as community health workers, the White House stated.

Along with Elnahal, Biden also nominated:

• Ray Jefferson, under secretary for benefits, Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of VA
• Rita Landgraf, assistant secretary for aging, Department of Health and Human Services
• Roselyn Tso, director of the Indian health service, Department of Health and Human Services
• Patrick Murphy, chair of the asset and infrastructure review commission, Department of VA
• Jonathan Woodson, vice chair of the asset and infrastructure review commission, Department of VA

As well as his picks to serve as members of the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission at the Department of VA: William Blake, Michael Blecker, Christine Hill, Joyce Johnson, Lucretia McClenney and José Ramos.