October 11, 2018
Northwell Health President & CEO Michael J. Dowling has been named Mather’s 2018 Community Honoree. David T. Chu, MD, oncologist, and Hesham Atwa, MD, surgeon, will receive the 2018 Theodore Roosevelt Awards for volunteer service to the hospital and to the community. The awards will be presented at Mather’s One Enchanted Evening gala on Friday, November 2, at East Wind Long Island in Wading River.
2018 Community Honoree: Michael J. Dowling
Mr. Dowling’s vision has transformed Northwell Health into a world-class health system in clinical care while delivering pioneering research at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and a visionary approach to medical education highlighted by the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies.
Northwell is the largest integrated health care system in New York State with more than 66,000 employees – the state’s largest private employer. With 23 hospitals, 6,675 hospital and long-term care beds, 665 outpatient physician practices and a full complement of long-term care services, Northwell is one of the nation’s largest health systems, with nearly $12 billion in annual revenue.
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 Health 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 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.
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 University College Dublin, Hofstra University, Dowling College and Fordham University.
2018 Theodore Roosevelt Award Winner: David T. Chu, MD
Dr. Chu is a medical oncologist at New York Cancer & Blood Specialists. He currently serves as Section Chief for Hematology/Oncology at Mather Hospital. He also serves as Chair of Mather’s Breast Program Leadership Committee (BPL) Chair, which oversees the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers Standards for Accreditation for Mather Hospital.
Dr. Chu chairs Mather’s Cancer Committee, where he oversees the Commission on Cancer Standards for Accreditation for Mather and St. Charles Hospitals. He is a lead physician for the Lung Cancer Conference, a multidisciplinary review of newly diagnosed lung cancer patients to recommend further diagnostic testing or treatment plan.
Dr. Chu is a graduate of St. George’s School of Medicine, Grenada, and completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Hematology Oncology at Stony Brook University Hospital.
2018 Theodore Roosevelt Award Winner: Hesham Atwa, MD
Dr. Atwa is the senior surgeon at Long Island Laparoscopic Doctors with more than 12 years of experience in Advanced Laparoscopic, Open and Bariatric Surgery. He has been a surgeon at Mather Hospital since 2001. Dr. Atwa served as Director of the Department of Surgery from 2014-2017 and Section Chief of General Surgery since 2014. He has supported many of Mather’s fundraising efforts, including the 3 North building project, Thrift Shop renovation and the Village Cup Regatta.
He is a graduate of Ains Sham University School of Medicine in Cairo, Egypt. He completed his residency in General Surgery at Metropolitan Group Hospitals (University of Illinois) and his Fellowship in Laparoendoscopic Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He is Board Certified in Surgery.
Dr. Atwa was among a handful of residents nationwide to be selected to participate in a Minimally Invasive Fellowship Program in Advanced Laparoendoscopic Surgery under Dr. Phillip L. Leggett,(considered a pioneer of laparoscopic surgery worldwide) at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, TX.
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About Mather Hospital
Mather Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones. Mather has earned the prestigious Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which recognizes healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. Mather is the only Hospital on Long Island to receive the top “A” rating for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group in the latest rating period. Mather also was ranked 21st out of almost 250 hospitals in New York State in U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals rankings. For further information about Mather Hospital, visit www.matherhospital.org or “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/matherhospital.
About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, more than 600 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 66,000 employees – 15,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. We’re training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu