North Shore-LIJ Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Dowling ranked 42nd in Modern Healthcare magazine’s annual listing of the nation’s “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare,” published this week.

Mr. Dowling ranked higher on the Top 100 than any other New York-based hospital executive. His rapid climb up the “power list” – he was ranked No. 86 last year – was highlighted in the magazine story accompanying the rankings.

Topping Modern Healthcare’s “most powerful” list were: Steve Case, founder, chairman and CEO of Revolution Health Group in Washington; Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google; Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and chairman of Microsoft Corp.; US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; and US Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Mr. Dowling has been North Shore-LIJ’s president and CEO since January 2002, after having served as the health system’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Before joining North Shore-LIJ in 1995, he was a senior vice president at Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Previously, he 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.

He is currently the chairman of both the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) and the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS).

North Shore-LIJ is the nation's third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system. It has 15 hospitals, 17 long-term care facilities, a medical research institute, three trauma centers, five home health agencies, a hospice network and dozens of outpatient centers across Queens, Long Island and Staten Island. Excluding its affiliate organizations, North Shore-LIJ facilities house 4,844 beds, have more than 7,000 physicians, and employ about 9,250 nurses and a total workforce of about 33,250 -- the largest employer on Long Island and the ninth largest in New York City.

Contact: Terry Lynam
516-465-2640/2600