Mr Craighead will assume his role in June and replaces Felix Pintado who stepped down late last year to take up the position of chief executive of Dental Health Services Victoria.

Mr Craighead is currently the chief executive of the Central Gippsland Health Service based in Sale.

Prior to that he served for a number of years as the chief executive of Yarram and District Health Service.

``Mr Craighead has had a former association with the Latrobe Valley as the interim manager of the Latrobe Community Health Service following the amalgamations which formed this service,'' a hospital spokesperson said.

Born in New Zealand, Mr Craighead arrived in Australia following his early training as a nurse.

He then worked in various sectors of the Queensland health system, before commencing the transition into hospital administration at King Island.

The spokesperson said since then Mr Craighead has gained further qualifications in nursing and health administration.

``Over recent years Mr Craighead has completed a number of reviews of health providers on behalf of the Department of Human Services and was recently appointed by the Minister of Health to the Board of Health Purchasing Victoria,'' the spokesperson said.

``He is a member of the ministerial advisory committee on rural health and is the chair of the joint ministerial steering committee on community capacity.

``Mr Craighead is also well acquainted with the work of LRH as the regional referral hospital and has interacted with both the Gippsland Mental Health Service and the Gippsland Cancer Care Centre.''

The spokesperson said Mr Craighead is well aware of the significant planning work underway at LRH to extend the facilities and services and is looking forward to guiding the expansion.