Dr. Steven A. Hamilton is a cardiologist who specializes in caring for people living with heart failure, including its most advanced forms. He treats patients with weakened or stiffened heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), cardiac amyloidosis, hypertrophic and genetic cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension and other complex heart conditions. He also guides patients and their families through options such as advanced medications, implanted heart pumps and evaluation for heart transplantation.

A proud Jamaican, Dr. Hamilton earned his medical degree with honors from The University of the West Indies, Mona. He began his career in Jamaica, working in emergency departments and community health clinics, an experience that taught him to meet patients where they are. His path to Alaska then ran through New Jersey, where he completed his internal medicine residency and served as chief resident. He went on to train in cardiology at Kaiser Permanente Northern California in San Francisco, where he served as chief fellow and developed a passion for pulmonary hypertension, a core part of the program’s training. He then completed fellowship training in advanced heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, heart pumps and heart transplantation at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

In 2024, Dr. Hamilton received the American Heart Association’s Laennec Fellow in Training Clinician Award, which honors cardiovascular fellows who demonstrate outstanding clinical judgment, diagnostic reasoning and teaching ability. He is a member of the AHA’s Council on Clinical Cardiology. His research focuses on two questions that matter to patients: why some communities have worse outcomes in heart failure, post-transplant care and other heart care, and how artificial intelligence can help care teams recognize patients who need help sooner. He publishes regularly in leading national and international cardiology journals and serves as an associate editor for Heart Failure Reviews. His current work, alongside members of the Heart Failure Collaboratory, explores the use of AI and noninvasive wearable monitors to improve heart failure care.

Dr. Hamilton was drawn to AHVI because its H.E.A.R.T. values reflect how he practices medicine, especially Excellence and Accessibility. He is committed to delivering the highest standard of heart care and to making sure that care reaches patients wherever they live in Alaska. A strong advocate for team-based, collaborative care, he looks forward to giving patients access to innovative treatments close to home. “Novelist Elizabeth Berg wrote that there is incredible value in being of service to others, and I aspire to live that out every day,” he said. “I look forward to building a lasting relationship with you, making decisions together and helping you optimize your health so you can enjoy life to the fullest.”

Service has been a thread throughout Dr. Hamilton’s life. Nearly two decades ago, he founded an annual church-based health fair outreach program in Jamaica. He has also served as a volunteer donor ambassador for the American Red Cross, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and mentored students who aspire to careers in cardiology. Outside of work, he enjoys tennis (he captained his team in high school and medical school), running, skydiving and reading novels across many genres. He bakes the family Christmas cake each year and never turns down salmon or escoveitch fish with a cold Red Stripe. If he weren’t a physician, he would be a pilot, since both medicine and aviation appeal to his fascination with physics, from the dynamics of blood flow to the mechanics of flight.

Medical Education

• Bachelor of Basic Medical Sciences (Honors): The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, 2012
• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Honors): The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, 2014
• Internal Medicine Residency (Chief Resident): Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, 2022
• Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship (Chief Fellow): Kaiser Permanente Northern California, San Francisco, CA, 2025
• Advanced heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, mechanical circulatory support, and heart transplant fellowship: The Cleveland Clinic, OH, 2026

Board Certifications

• American Board of Internal Medicine, 2022
• American Board of Cardiovascular Disease, 2025
• National Board of Echocardiography, 2025

Specialties

• Advanced Heart Failure
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Mechanical Circulatory Support
• Heart Transplantation