Angela Michalka

Tina Moring

LEWISTON — During the last week of September, Central Maine Healthcare will join the rest of the nation in honoring its advanced practice providers, Tina Moring and Angela Michalka.

An advanced practice provider is a health care provider who is not a physician but performs medical procedures typically performed by a physician, having undergone extensive medical education and training. Among their ranks are nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists and certified anesthesiologist assistants.

With the U.S. experiencing a physician shortage, advanced practice providers have become even more critical to health care providers’ ability to successfully care for their patients, according to a Central Maine Healthcare news release.

“I chose to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist because I wanted to expand my clinical knowledge,” said Moring, lead certified registered nurse anesthetist at Central Maine Medical Center. “I was already committed to our patients, but I wanted to do more. Being a CRNA allows me to serve our community, to meet more of the needs of our patients, and I get to do what I love, every day.”

“I was previously working as an athletic trainer with a semipro basketball team,” said Angela Michalka, a physician assistant at CMH Orthopedics. “Though I was an important part of the team, I wanted to be able to do more and provide more advanced care for the players instead of having to hand them off when they had a more significant injury. As a PA I am now able to provide advanced comprehensive care for my patients and I hope I am able to help keep them active and doing the things they enjoy.”