CEO reveals secrets to his success going from – Business News
His drive by no means flatlined.
Michael Dowling, the outgoing CEO of Northwell Health, has revealed intimately to The Post how he went from janitor to serving to to construct a behemoth system of 28 tri-state hospitals and 1,050 outpatient facilities from a single Long Island facility over three a long time.
“It’s been an interesting journey,” stated Dowling, 75, who grew up impoverished in Ireland and lived in a thatched-roof home with out working water, to The Post, recalling how he left home for New York at 16 within the Sixties.
Michael Dowling, the outgoing CEO of Northwell Health, has revealed how he went from janitor to serving to to construct a behemoth system of 28 tri-state hospitals and 1,050 outpatient facilities. 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,” stated Dowling, who will step down from his high spot in October.
Sweating in boat boiler rooms, sweeping flooring as a custodian, and performing every other handbook labor by no means bothered the person from Knockaderry, who stated it was great to simply be “able to put a little money in your pocket” for the primary time.
He then labored and saved enough to get an undergraduate arts degree and finally earn a grasp’s in human-services coverage in 1974 from Fordham University, the place Dowling started educating social coverage and rose to the rank of assistant dean.
In 1995, after incomes a polished resume within the Department of Health and Human Services and different high-ranking locations, he was recruited as an government to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.
Michael J. Dowling and Volodymyr Zelenskyy collectively on the Staten Island University Hospital. Lee S. Weissman/Northwell Health
“I knew it would turn out better than what I had growing up,” stated Dowling, who turned 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 stated. “When you kind of climb the ladder of life, you don’t know where the top rung is.”
Surgical precision
Dowling entered uncharted waters rapidly when he helped merge North Shore with failing Glen Cove Hospital within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, beginning a domino impact that reshaped healthcare by finally absorbing a number of underperforming amenities on Long Island.
Dowling stated he would stroll the COVID ground of a Northwell hospital every 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 stated. “When you bought to about 1996, we had about 9 hospitals. … Most people had been us and considering, ‘What the heck are you doing?’ “
The drama flared that yr when North Shore started one other merger, this time a contentious becoming a member of with its longtime rival, Long Island Jewish of New Hyde Park.
Although the 2 sides had a lot “animosity” that that they had to meet “in a neutral location” to get the deal executed, the federal authorities turned the true impediment, 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 stated. “It ended up at a two-week court trial — and we won.”
The acquisitions within the Nineteen Nineties paved the best way for Northwell’s growth into New York City, Westchester County, and, more not too long ago, Connecticut, with an April merger with Nuvance Health.
Dowling stated 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 stated that if there’s one half of the gig he most loves, it’s getting to know his almost 105,000 workers.
“It’s unbelievably important,” stated Dowling, who takes employees out to month-to-month dinners, walks the COVID ground of a Northwell hospital every day during the pandemic, and spends every Monday giving a two-hour orientation and Q&A to new hires, with a particular one for physicians.
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 stated.
More than simply a heat welcome, the classes make hiring managers assume twice about who they’re onboarding — and are an straightforward manner to spot out any newcomer with a awful perspective, the CEO stated.
“There have been occasions when I’ve asked employees at orientation to leave,” Dowling stated, though he added that the majority instances it’s the alternative, with him loving the interplay, and a few new hires method him to say how they relate to his journey.
“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 stated. James Messerschmidt
If there’s one factor candidates ought to know, it’s that their boss, who will deal with management development as CEO emeritus within the fall, despises a poor perspective.
“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 stated.
“Get over it. Suck it up, and deal with it for God’s sake.”
