Dr. John Patrick “Pat” Simmons joined St. Thomas Medical Group in 2023. He was born and raised in LaGrange, Georgia. He completed his undergraduate studies with a chemistry degree at The University of Kentucky where he was also a walk-on kicker for 4 seasons. He returned to Georgia for medical school and obtained his doctorate of medicine from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. He then continued his training at the University of Alabama Birmingham where he completed both his internal medicine residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship.

Dr. Simmons is board certified in Internal and Pulmonary Medicine as well as Critical Care Echocardiography for which he has a special interest. He is board eligible for Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Simmons has a passion for treating all respiratory and critical care conditions. He values his patients’ quality of life and tries to make a meaningful impact in their health. He has special interests in lung cancer screening and diagnostic procedures, pulmonary nodules, critical care echocardiography, percutaneous tracheostomy, quality improvement, COPD, and asthma. He is committed to helping patients quit smoking.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and hiking with their goldendoodle, Louie. He is an avid fly fisherman and big Kentucky basketball fan (which seems to be a point of contention among certain partners within their group – Go Big Blue).