Universisty of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado
Caitlin Blaine, MSHS, PA-C is the Associate Director of Critical Care and the interim Associate Director for Surgical Services for the Office of Advanced Practice and the University of Colorado Anschutz Campus. She completed her PA education at the George Washington University in 2010 and has since practiced in critical care, joining the division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Colorado in 2015.
Prior to assuming her role as Associate Director in 2024, Caitlin served as the Lead Advance Practice Provider in the Cardiothoracic ICU (CTICU) for seven years. As lead, she developed and implemented a new staffing model while growing and guiding her team through significant workforce challenges, including three Covid ICU deployments during the global pandemic. Her quality improvement efforts include her sustained involvement in the Sedation Off, Awake, Rehabilitate (SOAR) project, a multidisciplinary initiative focused on promoting mobility and wakefulness in critically ill patients. She additionally served as the first co-director of the CTICU Collaborative Case Review Committee (CCR), showing a focus on improving systems and team-based processes that impact patient care.
As Associate Director, her interests focus on supporting effective, high‑functioning teams in complex care environments, with an emphasis on team cohesion and the development of individual strengths. She is particularly focused on creative care models, intentional community building, and identifying what critical care APPs need to remain fulfilled, engaged, and able to thrive over the course of their careers.
Outside of the hospital, she is a guest lecturer at the CHA/PA program at the University of Colorado, is a Colorado Academy of PAs (CAPA) Director at Large, and a dedicated member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). She enjoys trail running, playing and coaching soccer, reading, bike commuting, and spending time with her husband, their 2 kids, and their Denver community.
Table 10: Smart Scheduling: Balancing Productivity and Clinician Well-Being
Sunday, March 22, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:25 AM Central Time
Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose.
