CEO reveals secret to his success — his journey from janitor to head of behemoth Northwell Health
Michael Dowling, the outgoing CEO of Northwell Health, has revealed in detail to The Post how he went from janitor to helping to build a behemoth system of 28 tri-state hospitals and 1,050 outpatient centers from a single Long Island facility over three decades.
'It's been an interesting journey,' said Dowling, 75, who grew up impoverished in Ireland and lived in a thatched-roof house without running water, to The Post, recalling how he left home for New York at 16 in the 1960s.
5 Michael Dowling, the outgoing CEO of Northwell Health, has revealed how he went from janitor to helping to build a behemoth system of 28 tri-state hospitals and 1,050 outpatient centers.
James Messerschmidt
'I worked on the boats in Manhattan, I worked in construction, I worked in the plumbing business based out of New Rochelle — but mostly doing a lot of work in Yonkers in the Bronx. I worked cleaning out bars in Queens,' said Dowling, who will step down from his top spot in October.
Sweating in boat boiler rooms, sweeping floors as a custodian, and performing any other manual labor never bothered the man from Knockaderry, who said it was great to just be 'able to put a little money in your pocket' for the first time.
He then worked and saved enough to get an undergraduate arts degree and eventually earn a master's in human-services policy in 1974 from Fordham University, where Dowling began teaching social policy and rose to the rank of assistant dean.
In 1995, after earning a polished resume in the Department of Health and Human Services and other high-ranking places, he was recruited as an executive to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.
5 Michael J. Dowling and Volodymyr Zelenskyy together at the Staten Island University Hospital.
Lee S. Weissman/Northwell Health
'I knew it would turn out better than what I had growing up,' said Dowling, who became CEO of the growing hospital system in 2002 and was later named grand marshal of Manhattan's 2017 St. Patrick's Day Parade in recognition of his success.
'You do the best work you possibly can. You treat people well. You work harder than anybody else. You give it your best,' he said. 'When you kind of climb the ladder of life, you don't know where the top rung is.'
Surgical precision
Dowling entered uncharted waters quickly when he helped merge North Shore with failing Glen Cove Hospital in the mid-1990s, starting a domino effect that reshaped healthcare by eventually absorbing several underperforming facilities on Long Island.
5 Dowling said he would walk the COVID floor of a Northwell hospital each day during the pandemic.
Lee S. Weissman/Northwell Health
'There were no health systems in existence at all in this part of the country,' he said. 'When you got to about 1996, we had about nine hospitals. … Most people were looking at us and thinking, 'What the heck are you doing?' '
The drama flared that year when North Shore began another merger, this time a contentious joining with its longtime rival, Long Island Jewish of New Hyde Park.
Although the two sides had so much 'animosity' that they had to meet 'in a neutral location' to get the deal done, the federal government became the real obstacle, Dowling recalled.
'The Justice Department, I believe in response to advocacy by the insurance companies, sued us and took us to court to prevent the merger,' Dowling said. 'It ended up at a two-week court trial — and we won.'
The acquisitions in the 1990s paved the way for Northwell's expansion into New York City, Westchester County, and, more recently, Connecticut, with an April merger with Nuvance Health.
Dowling said the healthcare giant now has its sights set on New Jersey.
'If you've traveled for more than a half an hour and you don't see one of our locations, call us because we've got to put something in there,' he quipped.
Bantering with the boss
But Dowling said that if there's one part of the gig he most loves, it's getting to know his nearly 105,000 employees.
'It's unbelievably important,' said Dowling, who takes workers out to monthly dinners, walks the COVID floor of a Northwell hospital each day during the pandemic, and spends each Monday giving a two-hour orientation and Q&A to new hires, with a special one for physicians.
5 Outgoing Northwell CEO Michael Dowling, after receiving his Honorary degree at University College Dublin, with his siblings.
Courtesy of Northwell
'This is not done that often by CEOs — although I can tell you that a number of them are now doing it because they found out I was doing it,' he said.
More than just a warm welcome, the sessions make hiring managers think twice about who they are onboarding — and are an easy way to spot out any newcomer with a lousy attitude, the CEO said.
'There have been occasions when I've asked employees at orientation to leave,' Dowling said, although he added that most times it's the opposite, with him loving the interaction, and some new hires approach him to say how they relate to his journey.
5 'Life is about opportunity. It's not about challenges. … People whine too much, people complain too much. 'Aw, this was a hard day' — it's supposed to be hard!' Dowling said.
James Messerschmidt
If there's one thing applicants should know, it's that their boss, who will focus on leadership development as CEO emeritus in the fall, despises a poor attitude.
'Life is about opportunity. It's not about challenges. … People whine too much, people complain too much. 'Aw, this was a hard day' — it's supposed to be hard!' Dowling said.
'Get over it. Suck it up, and deal with it for God's sake.'
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