Michael Dowling

CEO and President, Northwell Health

Michael Dowling is one of the health care industry’s most highly respected voices, achieving the No. 1 ranking in Modern Healthcare magazine’s 2022 list of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.” As a health care executive over the past three decades, he has been a no-excuses advocate for reforms that have helped the industry become more patient-focused and committed to quality and safety. During his years in academia and government, Dowling has distinguished himself as a compassionate voice for those in need, developing and promoting innovative health and human services policies.​

As president and CEO of Northwell Health, he has demonstrated invaluable leadership in overseeing a rapidly expanding clinical, research, and academic enterprise. With annual revenue of $18 billion and a workforce of more than 85,000, Northwell is the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State.

Dowling has invested heavily in Northwell’s research arm, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, home to 50 research labs, 3,000 clinical research trials, and 5,000 scientists and staff who are transforming the treatment of conditions like lupus, arthritis, sepsis, cancer, psychiatric illness, and Alzheimer’s disease. Feinstein has gained stature as the global headquarters of bioelectronic medicine research, where physician scientists are tapping neural pathways that signal the body to heal itself, reducing reliance on prescription drugs.​

Prior to becoming CEO, Dowling was the health system’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. He has served as the New York State director of health, education, and human services, and later, commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services. He initiated numerous innovative programs aimed at expanding primary care access to the medically underserved and uninsured, and helped the state to combat the crack cocaine epidemic.

Before his public service career, Dowling was a professor of social policy and assistant dean at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service. He was also a former instructor at the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Continuing Professional Education.