Physician biographies

S. Craig Humphreys, MD | John L. Andreshak, MD | Mark Simonson, MD | Susan Reed, PA-C

S. Craig Humphreys, M.D.
Fellowship-trained spine surgeon
Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon

Dr. Craig Humphreys grew up in Alaska with his family, entrenched in the local community in Anchorage. His dad, Richard Gene Humphreys, first arrived in Alaska in 1955 working on the early warning defense system for the United States under an air force contract with International Telephone & Telegraph. Craig’s mother, Carolyn Humphreys, started elementary school teaching in Anchorage in 1970 at Northern Lights, Tudor, Scenic Park and Denali elementary schools, and and continued teaching in Alaska for 25 years. Dr. Humphreys attended Sand Lake/Gladys Wood Elementary School in Anchorage, and then Dimond/Mears Middle School and High School, graduating in 1981. 

During the summers, to save money for college, Craig got exposed to all of Alaska, doing heavy labor working long hours on the North Slope with oil companies. The long workdays in the summer enabled him to save enough money to attend The University of Notre Dame where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology.

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he attended Loyola Stritch School of Medicine where he received his medical degree. He then completed an Internship and Residency at Loyola University Medical Center while also volunteering time as an MD in other countries, including India, St. Lucia and Lithuania. Dr. Humphreys then completed a Fellowship in Orthopedic Spine Surgery at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In 1996, he joined the Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he practiced for more than 15 years with a spine specialized practice attracting complex spine patients from across Tennessee and northern Georgia. 

Through a long career as a spine surgeon, Dr. Humphreys was also involved in spinal research and has contributed to more than 70 publications. He has designed spinal implants that maintain motion in the spine and instrumentation related to minimally invasive spine surgery. 

On a personal level, Dr. Humphreys is married with three children. The entire family enjoys the outdoors. He is an avid fisherman and outdoorsman. Over the years practicing medicine in Tennessee, Dr. Humphreys always wanted to return at some point to where he grew up in Alaska. Even during his medical career in Tennessee, he maintained the family cabin on the Kenai River, visiting there several times a year to enjoy the beautiful summers in Alaska. On their visits the family enjoyed hiking and salmon fishing.

In 2010, after a very successful career as a spine surgeon in the South, the Humphreys family began exploring a relocation back to Alaska to enable Dr. Humphreys to finish his spine surgery career where he grew up in the Kenai Peninsula. At the same time, Ryan Smith, the CEO of Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, noted that there was a community need for an experienced spine surgeon serving the Kenai Peninsula region. Those discussions served as the foundation of KenaiSpine, a spine practice focused on the treatment of back pain and neck pain. Over the subsequent years, the spine center became a regional destination for spine care, attracting patients and referrals from Soldotna, Kenai, Homer, Seward and many other towns in the Kenai Peninsula. At the same time, family practice physicians and chiropractors in Anchorage and across Alaska began referring complex spine surgery patients to Kenai Spine as an alternative to flying to the lower 48 for top quality spine surgery.  With the volume of patients migrating to Kenai Spine, Central Peninsula Hospital increased the spine surgery capabilities of the hospital with the installation of the O-arm surgical navigation system — one of few hospitals in the nation to make that investment in patient care.

Dr. Humphreys’ practice philosophy is to explore and exhaust all non-surgical options in advance of the patient considering spine surgery. This includes the use of spine-specialized therapy and injections that can relieve pain symptoms. 

KenaiSpine over the years has grown to include another fellowship-trained spine surgeon who trained at the Mayo Clinic; a physical medicine MD who also trained at the Mayo Clinic who specializes in non-surgical care of back and neck pain; and an internal spine therapy exercise gym.  The spine center provides spinal injections that can relieve many symptoms of a herniated disc without surgery. When surgery is necessary, the spine surgeons are able to provide the most advanced spine surgery options, including minimally invasive spine surgery and artificial disc replacement. 

Dr. Humphreys is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Spinal Injury Association.

Certifications:

* Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Associations:

* American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

* American Spinal Injury Association

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John L. Andreshak, MD
Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon
Fellowship-Trained Spine Surgeon

Dr. Andreshak has 20 years experience in the treatment of adult spine conditions. He specializes in degenerative spine conditions, artificial disc replacement in the cervical spine, spinal fusion, microdiscectomy and minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr Andreshak started his career as a Rocket Scientist in the Air Force after graduating from the US Air Force Academy.    He then completed his Orthopaedic Surgery Training at Loyola in Chicago and the Mayo Clinic.  He then served again in the US Air Force becoming Chief  of Spine surgery and serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.  He relocated to Alaska from the Chicago area to pursue his enjoyment of hunting , fishing and taking care of patients.

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Mark Simonson, MD
Board Certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Board Certified in Pain Medicine

Dr. Mark Simonson specializes in the nonsurgical relief of back and neck pain symptoms. He is Board Certified in two medical specialties: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), and Pain Medicine. Dr. Simonson received his Doctor of Medicine degree, with Honors, from the University of Hawaii in 1994. He completed his specialty training in the evaluation and nonsurgical treatment of neck and back pain in the department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the prestigious Mayo Clinic. While at the Mayo Clinic, he was named the national resident representative on the Board of Directors of the Physiatric Association of Spine, Sports & Occupational Rehabilitation (PASSOR). Prior to medicine, Dr. Simonson was co-founder, designer and president of the world-leading Cybex line of fitness and rehabilitation products.

 

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Susan Reed, PA-C
Physician Assistant-Certified

Susan Reed is a certified Physician Assistant with 13 years of orthopedic experience.  She graduated from Midwestern University in 2004 and began working at Northwestern Medicine Orthopaedics.  There she assisted with spine, total joint, hand, trauma, arthroscopic and foot and ankle surgeries.  Susan also cared for a variety of orthopedic patients in an inpatient and outpatient setting.  She enjoys spending quality time with patients educating them on diagnoses, procedures and recovery. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as hiking with her dogs, cooking, reading and fishing.

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