The Northwell Health, Nuvance Health merger closed in May 2025, and 17 months later, integration is going faster than expected, John D’Angelo, MD, president and CEO of the New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based system, said in the opening session of the Northwell Cardiovascular Summit on Oct. 1.
The Nuvance merger added seven hospitals across New York and Connecticut to the system.
Dr. D’Angelo, who has been involved in about five Northwell mergers, said full integration typically takes five to seven years, “but things are going a lot faster than we anticipated, and I think that’s because the culture of the two organizations aligns so well, and there’s been enthusiasm on both sides, and people are willing to embrace change,” he said.
Where the workforce stands
Dr. D’Angelo identified workforce as one of the biggest integration challenges. During due diligence, some Nuvance hospitals had 30% to 40% vacancy in some positions, a level that Northwell had not managed before, he said.
“We want to grow,” Dr. D’Angelo said. “We want to start new programs. We want to plan new practices. Are we going to be able to keep up with the human capital that’s needed to be able to do that?”
He said the team has recruited well so far, but the system will need to “continue to invest in our talent, grow the talent, attract people to jobs, retain people.”
Northwell now has 108,000 team members, serves 5 million patients per year and covers ZIP codes with 13.5 million residents.
Changes to patient care
Northwell has 24 patient-facing call centers, but 50% of the calls don’t lead to the resolution a patient wants, Dr. D’Angelo said. He gave an example of a discharged patient told to see a cardiologist in two weeks, only to find the cardiologist’s next available appointment was in two months.
“I used to hate when we called our patients customers, but I’m using that word a lot lately, because we do an excellent job when they’re a patient,” he said. “We don’t do a good job when they’re a customer.”
His growth strategy is to optimize existing assets and capture referrals rather than build new facilities — though he said new buildings are still needed in the Nuvance region.
“Rule one, do what’s best for the patient; rule two, do what’s best for the people who take care of the patient,” he said. “And when they’re in conflict, rule one trumps rule two.”
What’s next
Northwell’s next-phase priorities center on growing programs tailored to each community. This includes building out the transfer center, using virtual specialist consults for remote sites and designing facilities around local demographics.
“You can’t do transplant in every tertiary, but you can have end-organ specialists in every tertiary and every market, so people can get all their pre- and post- and lifelong care close to home,” Dr. D’Angelo said. “You can’t have every hospital be expert in everything.”
The system is investing in community partnerships by working with schools, faith-based leaders and community organizations, as well as working with Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based Marist College to develop curriculum for the college’s planned nursing school.
“As an industry, we’ve got to align around solutions,” he said. “Because if we let the insurance companies and the politicians and everybody else come up with solutions, it’s just going to be drive down prices without concern for the impact on quality and access for patients.”
