At the Hofstra University Zucker School of Medicine commencement ceremony Monday, Northwell Health president and chief executive Michael Dowling — an immense figure in Long Island health care — extolled graduates to be inspirers and influencers, "and always make sure it’s a positive inspiration and a positive influence."

That guidance to grads was followed two days later by news that Dowling himself is moving on with the announcement of his retirement, a transition that was several years in the making because of health issues.

Dowling will step down from his active roles at Northwell as of Oct. 1, after 23 years of guiding what has become one of the largest health care systems in the country and the single largest nonprofit employer in the state. Dowling will remain at Northwell as an adviser for two years.

Dr. John D'Angelo, the executive vice president of the health system's central region, will succeed Dowling.

Dowling and then-Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz established the Zucker School in 2008 and it is run as a partnership between the two Long Island institutions. That, and the fact that he had to know he was about to announce his retirement as he spoke to the graduates, added some poignancy to the wisdom he imparted to the future physicians in the hope they will continue his remarkable legacy of diversity, accessibility to health care, and compassion for those suffering.

As Dowling spoke to the Zucker School graduates Monday, he had to know he was about to announce his retirement, which added some poignancy to the wisdom he imparted to the future physicians in the hope they will continue his remarkable legacy of diversity, accessibility to health care, and compassion for those suffering.

"Now that word ‘diversity,’ " Dowling said. "Some people don’t like. It makes us proud. It is our strength."

He seemed pleased to see his call for diversity reflected in the audience he was addressing. "Just look for a second. What a diverse group of people," Dowling said, according to a transcript of the event. "Every nationality, every color, probably every religion, every gender, all together. Diversity in action."

Dowling — a savvy political player who was a top aide to former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, then his commissioner of social services, and later an informal adviser on health care policy to former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — was subtly critical in urging graduates to be aware of what is happening nationally to the health care industry. He told graduates and their families to keep their "eyes open" and be knowledgeable about changes to health care, saying that these are "unpredictable and complex times" and that current events could have "disastrous consequences for health care" and research. Dowling’s message, while not specifically mentioning President Donald Trump, made clear he was encouraging graduates to continue to pursue science and research rather than politics and polemics — while being aware of the politics and polemics. 

"As you progress in your careers and even now, keep a good idea and keep your eyes open on things happening around you. Because what happens around you will influence what you do and influence your future careers," Dowling said. "So get involved. Pay attention. Let your voices be heard. Advocate. Don’t be afraid. Stand up for what you believe in. Overall, make a positive difference." 

[email protected]

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/maynationalcartoons

Newsday’s editorial board has stuck with some ideas through thick and mostly thin. One of those notions was — and still is — the idea that Long Island lacks enough ways to get off the Island in the event of, say, a weather emergency, a possibility that looms ever larger at a time of increasingly severe storms.

The board applauded that concept 63 years ago after the Suffolk Planning Commission received a report on a proposed "Bridge to New England," the name of the editorial that appeared on May 15, 1962. It was one of many plans over decades for bridges or tunnels off Long Island. This particular "complex of spans and causeways," as the board called it, would go from Orient Point to Great Gull Island to Fishers Island and then to either the New London, Connecticut area or southwestern Rhode Island. The estimated cost: as much as $300 million.

"A bridge would provide not only a fast alternate means of access to New England for pleasure cars, but it would do wonders for eastern Suffolk as a manufacturing center, and it would make Long Island a coastal artery," the board wrote.

At the time, Long Island was coming off a period of massive growth. Nassau County’s population had increased 93.3% in the 1950s and Suffolk’s had risen 141.5%, but growth cooled in 1961 to just 3%. "We’re having a breathing spell and one that’s needed," the board wrote in a companion piece. "Now is the time for both Nassau and Suffolk to consolidate their gains as the two fastest-growing counties in the United States.

Mostly, that meant better planning, another Newsday board staple. "We suffered some severe losses due to inadequate planning," the board wrote. "Too many trees were chopped down; too many houses were built on minimum-size lots and some of them were nothing better than cracker boxes. Suffolk in particular should seize this moment to set up stiff and sound building and zoning regulations."

The board was most concerned with preserving Long Island’s residential character while allowing some light industries "where their workers lived."

The board viewed a bridge to New England as part of that smart planning philosophy and pointed to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, then under construction between Brooklyn and Staten Island, as proof that long-maligned projects could come to fruition.

Needless to say, Long Island never did get such a bridge or tunnel, and the battle over wise planning that preserves suburban character is still being waged. Fighting the long game doesn’t guarantee you’ll win.

[email protected]