LEWISTON — Michael A. Ricci, M.D., has been named chief of vascular surgery at Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute in Lewiston.

“In this role, Dr. Ricci will provide leadership and medical direction for vascular surgery, the vascular surgery practice, vascular lab and wound care. He will work with administrative leadership to oversee quality and patient safety initiatives, efficiency of operations and financial performance,” CMHVI Executive Director Susan R. Horton said.

Prior to joining the greater Lewiston-Auburn area medical community, he practiced at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., the major teaching hospital for the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He also provided consultative services at Alice Hyde Hospital in Malone, N.Y., and Canton-Potsdam Hospital in Potsdam, N.Y.

Ricci is a colonel in Air National Guard and was recently appointed state air surgeon for the Vermont Air National Guard (state air surgeon is the top physician position in each state’s Air National Guard). He has served with the “Green Mountain Boys” since 2003, most recently as commander of the 158th Medical Group. He has twice deployed to Balad, Iraq, and once to Bagram, Afghanistan, where he served as a flight surgeon and a vascular and trauma surgeon in Air Force theater hospitals.

Ricci has extensive experience as a practicing surgeon and as a surgical educator. He is a professor of surgery emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he worked for 23 years and is co-author of more than 100 scientific articles on vascular surgery, telemedicine, simulation and operating room safety.

He began his work as a vascular surgeon at Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute in Lewiston in June 2012, specializing in diseases of the vascular system, including aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease and peripheral vascular disease.