LEWISTON — A former New Hampshire hospital executive has been appointed president of Central Maine Medical Center, according to Central Maine Healthcare officials.

Tina Legere, who recently served as chief executive officer at Parkland Medical Center in Derry, N.H., has been hired to replace Laird Covey, who is retiring May 1 after 23 years with the hospital, according to a statement from the hospital.

Legere was most recently CEO at Parkland Medical Center, an 86-bed community hospital, and served on the executive management team of Hospital Corporation of America, a national provider of health-care services.

She started her health-care career as a social worker in both acute-care and post-acute-care settings and was later named director of Social Work and Discharge Planning at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., according to information provided by the hospital. Promoted numerous times, she was named the hospital’s vice president of operations before being recruited as Parkland’s CEO.

Legere holds a bachelor’s degree from Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Mass., a master’s degree in social work administration from the University of Connecticut in West Hartford, and a master’s degree in business administration and a post-MBA certificate in health-care administration from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.