MAY 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 27
MICHAEL DOWLING:
COMPLACENCY IS DANGEROUS
By WARREN STRUGATCH
Born in Limerick, Ireland, Michael J.
Dowling joined North Shore Health
System in 1995 as chief operating
officer, then helped oversee the
historic merger of North Shore and
Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
He was promoted to chief executive in
2002. During his tenure as CEO, the
healthcare system has opened medical
and nursing schools in conjunction
with Hofstra University; launched the
state’s first provider-owned insurance
plan; and expanded into Greater New
York, becoming the state’s largest
employer. Dowling rebranded the
system as Northwell Health with a
Super Bowl ad in 2016. Northwell
ranks among the nation’s largest
healthcare systems. This interview
has been edited and condensed.
Warren Strugatch: Our first
influencers are our parents. Tell me
about yours.
Michael Dowling: My father, John
— known as Jack — was a laborer. He
was a hard-nosed, hard-driving guy.
When you shook his hand, you didn’t
need a contract. My mother, Margaret,
instilled a love of education in me
and encouraged me to read. I read all
the Zane Grey novels about the Old
West in America.
WS: Did reading them inspire you to
come to America?
MD: I came to America for education
and to earn money. I was the oldest of
five and our parents couldn’t support
us materially. My father was crippled
by arthritis at 40, so I went to work at
15. I worked part of the year in a factory
in England, then back to Ireland for
school. When I go back today, I see
BMWs and Jags in driveways. Back then
we had carts and donkeys. Our family
was poor: no heat, running water,
bathrooms or electricity. We lived in
a thatched house with mud floors. We
ran to school and ran back, six miles
each way. That’s how we stayed fit. I also
played a lot of sports, including hurling,
which is the Irish national sport. You’ve
got to be a little crazy to play it.
WS: It sounds very Frank McCourt
(author of Angela’s Ashes).
MD: Frank McCourt grew up 12
minutes from me. I started reading
his book and asked myself why the
hell was I reading it.I lived that life.
WS: You graduated from Fordham,
taught there for a while, then became
an assistant dean. You seemed headed
for a career in academia.
MD: I got a call from Gov. Mario
Cuomo’s office. They hired me as
deputy director of the Department
of Social Services. He later appointed
me head of Human Services. We
worked side by side for 10 years and
came to know each other extremely
well. After he left office we stayed
close.
WS: What did you take from that
experience?
MD: Mario Cuomo was inspirational
and unbelievably bright. I think he got
me because of the immigrant thing.
When you were around him you had
to be on top of your game. He took a
chance on me, forcing me to do things
for which I had no background. I was
thrown in and did them, successfully.
WS: How else was he influential?
MD: I’m a big believer in expanding
your mind and thinking outside
your box. You don’t want to be
stuck in tradition. Complacency
is dangerous. At Northwell today,
most people who run hospitals have
never run hospitals before. If you
walk in here with a CV and say, ‘I’ve
run a hospital for 20 years,’ I won’t
hire you for that. You’ll just run a
hospital from 20 years ago. Maybe
I’ll hire you for something else.
WS: Almost everyone wants health
care reform, yet there’s no consensus
about how to improve the system. Is
single payer the answer?
MD: Big systems like us around the
country will do the bulk of healthcare
reform. I’m skeptical about the
ability of government to do this. If
government takes over, you’ll
have a real crisis on your
hands.
WS: What’s the most
important thing you do as
CEO?
MD: Hiring and training
people is extremely
important. We
hire 145 people
a week on
average and
I meet our
new hires
e v e r y
Monday
morning.
We talk
a n d
get to
k n o w
e a c h
other
a
little.
Human talent creates the
organization’s personality
and culture. How you
hire them, how you
train them, how you do
succession planning, all
that’s how I spend my
time. What else is more
important?
Northwell Health
CEO Michael
Dowling, an Irish
immigrant who
played hurling as a
kid, keeps a hurling
stick in his office.
(Photo by Bob Giglione)
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