Mr. Dowling is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Northwell Health, a clinical, academic and research enterprise with a workforce of more than 75,000 and annual revenue of $14 billion. Northwell is the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State, caring for more than two million people annually through a vast network of 830 outpatient facilities, including 220 primary care practices, 52 urgent care centers, home care, rehabilitation and end-of-life programs, and 23 hospitals.
Prior to becoming President and CEO in 2002, Mr. Dowling was the health system's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Northwell in 1995, he was a Senior Vice President at Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Mr. Dowling served in New York State government for 12 years, including seven years as State Director of Health, Education and Human Services and Deputy Secretary to the Governor. He was also Commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services. Before his public service career, Mr. Dowling was a professor of Social Policy and Assistant Dean at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services and Director of the Fordham Campus in Westchester County.
Mr. Dowling is past chair of the Healthcare Institute and the current chair of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences and the North American Board of the Smurfit School of Business at University College, Dublin, Ireland. He also serves as a board member of the Long Island Association. He is past chair and a current board member of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL), the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) and the League of Voluntary Hospitals of New York.
Mr. Dowling was an instructor at the Center for Continuing Professional Education at the Harvard School of Public Health. Mr. Dowling grew up in Limerick, Ireland. He earned his undergraduate degree from University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, and his master’s degree from Fordham University. He also has honorary doctorates from Queen's University Belfast, University College Dublin, Hofstra University, Dowling College and Fordham University.