Dr. John D’Angelo wrote a letter to Northwell CEO Michael Dowling in 2003, asking the high-profile leader if the health system would create a pay-gap program for veterans transitioning out of service and into civilian medical roles.

“He didn’t know me. I was here for only three years,” D’Angelo told The Post of when he split time between the front lines of Glen Cove Hospital and being an active duty Army reservist doctor.

“He wrote me back and said, ‘Absolutely, we’re doing this.’ I became the first recipient of it. He approached me after graduation from that leadership program and said, ‘We want you to run all emergency medicine.'” 4

Now, after 23 years at the helm, Dowling has another appointment for D’Angelo — his successor as CEO, starting Wednesday.

“I get to be part of the

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