Resources and Insights
Gain insight into today’s complex business landscape with Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. Grounded and solution-oriented, Michael joined the organization a quarter-century ago and built it into New York State’s largest private employer. He has written several books, including Leading Through a Pandemic, Health Care Reboot and After the Roof Caved In, his inspiring dirt-floor-to-C-suite memoir.
There is no substitute for hard work, commitment, and personal achievement – and no greater satisfaction.
"
- Michael Dowling, Irish America
It’s what you’re made of; it’s not your circumstance… obviously circumstances influence you, but they should never hold you back from succeeding.
"
If we believe that we have a healthcare system, we’ve got to be in all aspects of healthcare delivery, from prevention to treatment.
"
We choose to lead by taking care of all of our patients, irrespective of circumstance. That is being true to the mission
"
There is no substitute for hard work, commitment, and personal achievement – and no greater satisfaction
"
I make a distinction between management and leadership. [Leadership is] trying to figure out how to see the future, and then trying to figure out how to navigate it.
"
Hire the right people, create the right culture, build a system of unity and purpose, then anything is possible.
"
Health care innovation requires collaboration
COVID-19 surveillance is a powerful tool in the pandemic
Five suggestions for technology companies, venture capitalists
Northwell commits
$1M toward
employee innovators
Feinstein Institutes’
2023 Ross Prize
awarded to fatty liver
disease geneticists
Mather hospital re-envisions emergency
care for our
community
Learn more
The Life of Michael Dowling and How His Experiences Are Impacting Healthcare and Policy Today
Michael Dowling’s Authorship
Gain insight into today’s complex business landscape with Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. Grounded and solution-oriented, Michael joined the organization a quarter-century ago and built it into New York State’s largest private employer. He has written several books, including Leading Through
a Pandemic, Health Care Reboot and After the Roof Caved In, his inspiring
dirt-floor-to-C-suite memoir.
Mather hospital re-envisions emergency care for our community
In the News
Career Questions
Resources and insights
In the Media
Health Care Reboot
"
Cooperation and Truth Matter During a Pandemic
Can Better Data Help Defeat
the Next Pandemic?
Replacing Drugs and Limiting Side Effects Through Medical Science and Technology
It’s Time to Remove the Stigma Behind Postpartum Depression
How Vaccines and Social Media Are Helping Mental Health Post-Covid
Veteran Highlights Need for Programs Like Northwell’s Military Liaison Services
How Northwell Health Is Leading a Revolution in Women’s Health
Northwell Health is a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For® Two Years Running
How Personal Loss Inspired One Health Care CEO Emphasize Preventive Care
Taking Care of a Family
Member? Take Advantage of
These Support Resources.
There are an estimated 48 million family caregivers in the US as the responsibility to care for ill, disabled, and aging populations is falling on relatives and profoundly changing their day-to-day lives.
How an Integrated Health System is Uniquely Prepared to Care for Cancer Patients
Age-Friendly Care Can Help
You Age Well, Here’s What You
Need to Know
It’s no secret. America is getting older. This will affect every aspect of American life, from the economy to our labor force. But perhaps the biggest sector facing the challenges of an aging population is healthcare.
Michael Dowling’s Authorship
Click on a book to learn more
Northwell News
from Northwell Health
20-Minute Health Talk
100-plus: Centenarians
Reveal Their Healthy-Aging
Secrets
Modern medicine and a current understanding of factors contributing to longevity have enabled many to lead happy, fulfilling lives well into the triple digits.
20-Minute Health Talk
How These Two Experts
Made Hospital Food
Delicious and Nutritious
Our guests have ensured that hospital kitchens prioritize fresh ingredients and cater to the patient population — and the food is much healthier, as well.
20-Minute Health Talk
Heart Disease and
Pregnancy: Prevention and
a New Approach
Pregnancy is like a stress test on the body. Most women adapt just fine, but for some, the strain can dramatically raise the risk of heart disease — even in young women.
The Leadership Podcast
TLP281: Practical Wisdom from a Rags to Riches CEO
Michael Dowling provides timeless insight and wisdom on how to cultivate loyalty within your employees, what really brings meaning and purpose into someone’s life, and much more.
Featured Podcasts
Fireside Chat Podcast
Modern Healthcare, Opinion
Irish America
Becker’s Hospital Review
Fireside Chat Podcast
Irish America
I was the first person
in America to get a
Covid-19 vaccine
Feinstein Institutes’ 2023 Ross Prize awarded to fatty liver disease geneticists
Northwell thoracic surgery programs earn top ratings for lung cancer outcomes
Northwell News
Featured Podcasts
Featured Books
Northwell News
Featured Podcasts
Resources and Insights
Health Care Reboot
Age-Friendly Care Can Help
You Age Well, Here’s What You
Need to Know
Taking Care of a Family Member? Take Advantage of These Support Resources.
How Vaccines and Social Media Are Helping Mental Health Post-Covid
Replacing Drugs and Limiting Side Effects Through Medical Science and Technology
Can Better Data Help Defeat
the Next Pandemic?
Cooperation and Truth Matter During a Pandemic
How an Integrated Health System is Uniquely Prepared to Care for Cancer Patients
How Personal Loss Inspired One Health Care CEO Emphasize Preventive Care
Northwell Health is a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For® Two Years Running
How Northwell Health Is Leading a Revolution in Women’s Health
Veteran Highlights Need for Programs Like Northwell’s Military Liaison Services
It’s Time to Remove the Stigma Behind Postpartum Depression
TLP281: Practical Wisdom from a Rags to Riches CEO
100-plus: Centenarians Reveal Their Healthy-Aging Secrets
How These Two Experts Made Hospital Food Delicious and Nutritious
Heart Disease and Pregnancy: Prevention and a New Approach
Northwell commits $1M toward employee innovators
Feinstein Institutes’ 2023 Ross Prize awarded to fatty liver disease geneticists
Mather hospital re-envisions emergency care for our community
Five suggestions for technology companies, venture capitalists
COVID-19 surveillance is a powerful tool in the pandemic
Health care innovation requires collaboration
I was the first person in America to get a Covid-19 vaccine
WHAT DOES KINDNESS
Look Like?
WHAT DOES KINDNESS
Look Like?
How the Pandemic
Changed the Way
Clinical Trials are
Conducted
How the Pandemic Changed the Way Clinical Trials are Conducted
20-Minute Health Talk—
Leading Through a Pandemic
How an Integrated Health System is Uniquely Prepared to Care for Cancer Patients
How an Integrated Health System is Uniquely Prepared to Care for Cancer Patients
Pregnant? You Can
(and Should) Still Get
Vaccinated
Pregnant? You Can
(and Should) Still Get Vaccinated
Pregnant? You Can
(and Should) Still Get
Vaccinated
Northwell CEO’s New
Memoir Connects
Experiences with
Today’s Work
Challenges
Northwell CEO’s New Memoir Connects Experiences with Today’s Work Challenges
Northwell CEO’s New Memoir Connects Experiences with Today’s Work Challenges
20-Minute Health Talk
6 myths about hospice care: Educating patients, families
and clinicians
6 myths about hospice care: Educating patients, families and clinicians
From pain and symptom management to emotional and spiritual support, hospice care can improve and even extend life for some patients with advanced illness and offer respite for their families.
Learn more
Two Wars: The Russian invasion and the attack on healthcare
Northwell knows that attacking healthcare is one of the most devastating things that can happen to a population. That’s why we’re dedicated to not only telling these stories, but to raising health wherever it is threatened.
Learn more
Healthy Aging Quiz
How Health Systems
Can Fight Human
Trafficking
How Health Systems Can Fight Human Trafficking
How Health Systems Can
Fight Human Trafficking
How Healthy Aging Can Change Geriatric Healthcare Outcomes for the Better
How Healthy Aging Can
Change Geriatric Healthcare
Outcomes for the Better
Living longer creates new challenges even as it provides increased longevity, especially for caregivers and medical providers charged with taking care of us as we age
Innovation in Effective
Communication Is
Improving Health
Equity at Northwell
Innovation in Effective Communication Is Improving Health Equity at Northwell
Innovation in Effective Communication Is Improving Health Equity at Northwell
The Future of Health
Care Is Regenerative
Individualized Medicine
The Future of Health Care Is Regenerative Individualized Medicine
WHAT DOES KINDNESS
Look Like?
The Future of Health Care Is Regenerative Individualized Medicine
Abortion rights get
to the heart of the
doctor-patient
relationship
Abortion rights get to the heart of the doctor-patient relationship
Telemedicine in Ukraine: A system to support frontline healthcare workers
Telemedicine in Ukraine: A system to support frontline healthcare workers
Lessons Learned from
the Pandemic Make a Difference on Ukraine’s
Eastern Front
Lessons Learned from the Pandemic Make a Difference on Ukraine’s Eastern Front
Lessons Learned from the Pandemic Make a Difference on Ukraine’s Eastern Front
Northwell opens
center for high-risk
pregnancy and fetal
health
Northwell opens center for high-risk pregnancy and fetal health
Midwifery programs
deliver a personalized
approach to
pregnancy
Midwifery programs deliver a personalized approach to pregnancy
Anxiety in children: 6
ways parents can
help
Anxiety in children: 6 ways parents can help
20-Minute Health Talk
100-plus: Centenarians reveal their healthy-aging secrets
Say Goodbye to Long
Hospital Stays After
Knee and Hip
Replacement
Say Goodbye to Long Hospital Stays After Knee and Hip Replacement
Say Goodbye to Long Hospital Stays After Knee and Hip Replacement
Quality of Life Is at the
Center of Northwell’s
First-of-Its-Kind Cancer
Survivorship Program
Quality of Life Is at the Center of Northwell’s First-of-Its-Kind Cancer Survivorship Program
Quality of Life Is at the Center of Northwell’s First-of-Its-Kind Cancer Survivorship Program
Doctors are careful to send patients home with no more than a three-day supply of medication, usually over-the-counter pain medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, completely eliminating the need for opioids.
This necessary change has been made possible, in large part, to the advent of nerve blocks. The numbing effect, while a minor inconvenience, gives the body a 24-to-36-hour head start on the healing process. Considering that 3–4% of those who use opioid pain killers become addicted, the rise of nerve blocks will most certainly save lives.
ED staff at Staten Island University Hospital are trained to administer nerve blocks.
Northwell’s Staten Island University Hospital begins using nerve blocks for hip fractures in its Emergency Department (ED).
The blocks are administered with the guidance of ultrasound, greatly lessening the ED’s dependence on opioids and potentially ending their use altogether in the future.
Health systems around the country begin looking for alternatives to opioids.
Northwell Health, led by senior vice president for Northwell's anesthesia line, Joseph Marino, MD, introduces the use of nerve blocks in emergency care with the goal of taking it system-wide; Dominick Gadaleta, MD, David Pechman, MD and Andrew Bates, MD at Northwell’s South Shore University use nerve blocks during bariatric surgery. Northwell surgeons see massive benefits for patients, with quicker recovery, less pain and less exposure to opioids. Patients also avoid the physical side effects of opioid-based anesthesia, such as nausea and breathing issues.
Opioid addiction skyrockets in the U.S. due to overprescribing and overreliance on medical pain killers
Patients coming in for a procedure such as knee surgery go home with a three-month supply of oxycodone — 180 pills — despite only needing enough for three days. Huge vials of narcotics fill medicine cabinets across the U.S. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids jump from 3,442 in 1999 to 17,029 in 2017. Overall, opioid-involved overdose deaths more than double in seven years: from 21,088 in 2010 to 47,600 in 2017. (Source: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates)
FDA Amendments Act:
FDA Amendments Act granted FDA authority to require specified safety measures known as Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies for certain drugs, but the FDA won’t act decisively on opioids for pain management until 2013.
As overdose deaths begin to skyrocket, FDA sends a warning letter to OxyContin manufacturer for misleading advertising.
Pain is labeled the 5th vital sign
Pain experts lobby to include pain alongside body temper ature, pulse rate, respiration rate and blood pressure as a vital sign that doctors must monitor and manage. This had the unintended consequence of striving for a goal of zero post-surgical pain.
Diagnostic ultrasound is used to administer nerve blocks more effectively.
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2000s
2000s
+
2001
2001
2001
+
2003
2003
2003
+
2007
2007
2007
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2000–2018
2000–2018
2000–2018
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2020s
2020s
2020s
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2021
2021
2021
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September 2022
September 2022
September 2022
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2022 and beyond
2022 and beyond
2022 and beyond
New painkillers marketed as “non-addictive” come to market with approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
Vicodin in 1984, OxyContin in 1995, Actiq (fentanyl) in 1998, and Percocet in 1999.
Nerve blocks enter common treatment:
Neuraxial nerve blocks like epidurals become commonplace during childbirth and in surgeries when a patient is deemed a poor candidate for traditional anesthesia.
Mayo Clinic surgeons use regional nerve blocks:
Mayo Clinic further develops peripheral and neuraxial nerve blocks (like epidurals), which block pain to a limb or groin, allowing physicians to ease pain during labor and surgeries.
U.S. bans opium:
In response to alarming rates of heroin addiction, the U.S. enacts the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act, effectively banning opium dens.
August Gustav Bier develops regional anesthesia:
The German surgeon finds a way to achieve intravenous regional anesthesia, allowing a patient to be awake during surgery without feeling pain from the site of the surgery.
William Steward Halsted tries nerve blocks for anesthesia:
An American surgical pioneer, Halsted invents nerve blocks by injecting cocaine into the nerve trunk.
A chemist stumbles upon heroin:
Attempting to create a less addictive form of morphine, English chemist C.R. Wright makes heroin by boiling morphine on a stove. Bayer later commercializes heroin for medical use at the turn of the century.
Scientists in Germany and UK invent syringes:
The first reliable syringes are developed. Injected morphine becomes the standard method of reducing pain during and after surgery.
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1853
1853
1853
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1874
1874
1874
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1885
1885
1885
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1908
1908
1908
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1909
1909
1909
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1925–1940
1925–1940
1925–1940
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1980s
1980s
1980s
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1980s and 90s
1980s and 90s
1980s and 90s
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. comes up with the word “anesthesia”:
Borrowing from the Greek word for senseless, the American physician and polymath coined the word “anesthesia” to refer to the process of using ether to anesthetize a patient during a surgery he publicly performed.
Jean-Pierre Robiquet discovers codeine:
First identified by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Robiquet, codeine provides doctors with a less powerful form of opium that can be synthesized. This is a welcome discovery as British opium consumption hits record highs.
Friedrich Sertürner makes morphine:
This German scientist is the first to isolate morphine, the active ingredient in opium. Sertürner dissolves opium in acid and then neutralizes it with ammonia. Morphine, a very powerful painkiller, is ten times stronger than opium. The drug is widely used as a painkiller during the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865).
Laudanum becomes popular in England:
English physician Thomas Sydenham develops a proprietary opium tincture, a simplified version of the laudanum of Paracelsus.
Paracelsus invents laudanum:
A German-Swiss alchemist, Paracelsus mixes opium in an alcoholic solution and dubs it laudanum; it’s widely circulated in European medical literature as a painkiller.
Traders bring opium to Asia:
Arab traders introduce opium to China. Opium is cultivated in East Asia on and off for the next 1600 years, though its use is considered immoral in Eastern medicine.
Theophrastus writes about opium:
Historians note that the Greek philosopher’s reference to the milky juice of an opium poppy to relieve pain is the first confirmed record of opium use.
Hippocrates recommends willow bark for pain:
The Greek physician advises chewing willow bark to help relieve pain and reduce fever. He also advises consuming tea made from the bark of the willow to help relieve pain after childbirth.
+
1846
1846
1846
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1830
1830
1830
+
1803
1803
1803
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1676
1676
1676
+
1500s
1500s
1500s
+
400 AD
400 BC
400 AD
+
300 BC
300 BC
300 BC
+
400 BC
400 BC
400 BC
Click on dates on the timeline below to learn more about the developments in pain management
How we manage pain has been a priority of medical care since humans discovered that certain plants could alleviate aches and fever. Traditional indigenous healers used bark, leaves, and herbs to make powerful pain-relieving concoctions. There is evidence suggesting the Sumerians were prescribing opium for pain as far back as 8000 years ago. And now, a mere 80 centuries later, Northwell Health doctors are implementing one of the more exciting developments in pain management: ultrasound-guided — and opioid-free — nerve blocks.
To understand the development of pain management and exciting new breakthroughs, it’s important to know how we got here. Some of our most powerful pain relievers have turned out to be dangerously addictive substances. But time and again, when doctors and researchers have been faced adversity, they’ve been able to uncover new ways to meet the challenge and improve care — nerve blocks being the latest such breakthrough. Check out the twists and turns of pain relief over the eons: These inspirations and setbacks have led us to the safe pain-management approaches Northwell doctors employ today.
To learn more about nerve blocks, what they are, and how they’re administered, listen to Northwell Health’s 20-Minute Health Talk podcast featuring Dr. Marino: “Nerve blocks: fighting opioid addiction with safer pain management” and “Why — and how — surgeons are ditching opioids in the OR” featuring Dr. Gadaleta and Dr. Pechman.
The History of Pain Management
Jaw surgery gives
newborn with Pierre
Robin Syndrome
hope for normal life
Jaw surgery gives newborn with Pierre Robin Syndrome hope for normal life
Kidney stones: Why
they hurt, how to
help
Kidney stones: Why they hurt, how to help
Breast cancer risk
factors: 5 things
young women need
to know
Breast cancer risk factors: 5 things young women need to know
20-Minute Health Talk
How These Two Experts Made Hospital Food Delicious and Nutritious
20-Minute Health Talk
Heart Disease and Pregnancy: Prevention and a New Approach
Innovations in Patient
Experience Leading
Northwell to Higher
Patient Satisfaction
Innovations in Patient Experience Leading Northwell to Higher Patient Satisfaction
Parents Are OK with
Asking About Gun
Safety, So Why Aren’t
We Doing It?
Parents Are OK with Asking About Gun Safety, So Why Aren’t We Doing It?
Quality of Life Is at the Center of Northwell’s First-of-Its-Kind Cancer Survivorship Program
Innovations in Patient Experience Leading Northwell to Higher Patient Satisfaction
Population Health
Approach is Pivotal in
Lowering Maternal
Mortality Rate in the
U.S.
Population Health Approach is Pivotal in Lowering Maternal Mortality Rate in the U.S.
Population Health Approach is Pivotal in Lowering Maternal Mortality Rate in the U.S.
The First American to
Get the COVID Vaccine
Is Advocating for Equity
in Health Care
The First American to Get the COVID Vaccine Is Advocating for Equity in Health Care
The First American to Get the COVID Vaccine Is Advocating for Equity in Health Care
Pain Management
Techniques Are
Reducing Opioid Use in
Northwell Hospitals
Pain Management Techniques Are Reducing Opioid Use in Northwell Hospitals
Pain Management Techniques Are Reducing Opioid Use in Northwell Hospitals
Meet the Doctor
Behind the Most
Exciting Discoveries of
the Last 30 Years
Meet the Doctor Behind the Most Exciting Discoveries of the Last 30 Years
Meet the Doctor Behind the Most Exciting Discoveries of the Last 30 Years
The physician-patient connection:
Ensuring mutual
understanding
The physician-patient connection: Ensuring mutual understanding
New device stimulates
weak lower back
muscles to resolve
chronic pain
New device stimulates weak lower back muscles to resolve chronic pain
Spinal cord
stimulator helps
paralysis patient
walk again
Spinal cord stimulator helps paralysis patient walk again
Northwell commits $1M toward employee innovators
Plainview Hospital opens state-of-the-art cardiac cath lab
Northwell debuts New Year ad campaign featuring centenarians
Social Determinants of
Health are Key in the
Fight Against Type 2
Diabetes
Social Determinants of Health are Key in the Fight Against Type 2 Diabetes
Social Determinants of Health are Key in the Fight Against Type 2 Diabetes
Northwell debuts
New Year ad
campaign featuring
centenarians
Northwell debuts New Year ad campaign featuring centenarians
Plainview Hospital
opens state-of-the-art cardiac cath lab
Plainview Hospital opens state-of-the-art cardiac cath lab
Northwell thoracic
surgery programs
earn top ratings for
lung cancer outcomes
Northwell thoracic surgery programs earn top ratings for lung cancer outcomes
Accountability Is the
Key in Environmental
Social Governance
Accountability Is the Key in Environmental
Social Governance
Accountability Is the Key in Environmental
Social Governance
Raising Patient Care:
Inside Northwell’s
Nurse Navigator
Program
Raising Patient Care: Inside Northwell’s Nurse Navigator Program
Cooperation and Truth Matter During a Pandemic
Raising Patient Care: Inside Northwell’s Nurse Navigator Program
20-Minute Health Talk—
Leading Through a Pandemic
20-Minute Health Talk—
Leading Through a Pandemic
Northwell Teams Up
with the FutureReadyNYC
Internship Program for
High Schoolers
Northwell Teams Up with the FutureReadyNYC Internship Program for High Schoolers
Northwell Teams Up with the FutureReadyNYC Internship Program for High Schoolers