Dr. Shawn Vainio joined the staff at YKHC in February 2015 working in our emergency department and in our inpatient unit as a hospitalist. Outside of his work at YKHC, he leads teams of medical students, residents and other health care professionals on expeditions to address public health needs and bring primary care to remote regions of the Indian Himalayas.

Recently Dr. Vainio was honored with a national award from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) for these efforts. The Humanitarian Award honors a family physician who, both within our borders and beyond, gives extraordinary and enduring humanitarian efforts to improve the lives of their patients. Dr. Vainio has been visiting the Indian Himalayas for many years to work with local populations to not only provide medical care but also to build local capacity for medical care when outside groups are not present.

Here, at YKHC, he provides excellent evidenced-based medical care for our patients. Not only is his medical knowledge and compassion noteworthy, he also has worked diligently to develop evidence-based decision tools to help all of our physicians take the best possible care of our patients. Dr. Vainio developed a continuing education conference in Alaska dedicated to getting the best possible evidenced-based medicine to the bedside of providers who need it when they need it. He does all of this with a humble attitude and a dedication to continuous improvement. It has been an honor to work alongside him these past eight years.

-Dr. Ellen Hodges, Chief of Staff