Dr. Simone Knowles-Ferguson

Dr. Simone Knowles-Ferguson is a board-certified pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Princess Margaret Hospital, the main government hospital in Nassau, New Providence. With 13 years of experience following her training in the United States, she returned to the Bahamas to serve the growing respiratory medicine needs of the islands. Her practice addresses a high local burden of asthma — the Bahamas has one of the Caribbean's highest asthma prevalence rates — as well as COPD, smoking-related lung disease, and obstructive sleep apnoea. She leads the hospital's pulmonary function testing service and manages patients requiring ventilatory support in the intensive care unit. Dr. Knowles-Ferguson is committed to bringing American board-standard respiratory care to Bahamian patients, with a focus on prevention, education, and early intervention.

Dr. Knowles-Ferguson earned her MD from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, one of the leading US medical schools with strong Caribbean ties. She completed her internal medicine residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, and then pursued a two-year clinical fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Florida (Gainesville). During her fellowship she trained in interventional bronchoscopy, sleep medicine, and medical management of pulmonary hypertension. She holds certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine. She maintains annual continuing medical education credits through the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society.

Dr. Knowles-Ferguson's expertise spans the full scope of pulmonary and critical care medicine. She manages difficult asthma including severe and uncontrolled cases, COPD exacerbations, community and hospital-acquired pneumonia, and pleural diseases. Her sleep medicine service offers diagnostic polysomnography, home sleep testing, and CPAP/BiPAP fitting. She performs flexible bronchoscopy for diagnosis of airway lesions, haemoptysis workup, and foreign body assessment. In the ICU, she manages patients on mechanical ventilation and guides weaning protocols. She also evaluates patients with pulmonary hypertension and coordinates with cardiology for optimal management of this complex condition.

Dr. Knowles-Ferguson consults in English and welcomes patients visiting Nassau from across the Caribbean and from international visitors. Her training in the US healthcare system enables her to communicate easily with patients accustomed to American medical standards. Video consultations are available for follow-up appointments and for residents of the Family Islands who cannot easily travel to Nassau. For new international patients, she requests prior chest imaging (CT or X-ray), spirometry results, and a medication list. Princess Margaret Hospital's outpatient department coordinates appointments.

Dr. Knowles-Ferguson is registered with the Bahamas Medical Council and is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP). She is an active member of the American Thoracic Society and has presented research on asthma management in the Caribbean island context at international respiratory meetings. She serves on the medical advisory committee at Princess Margaret Hospital and contributes to national asthma awareness campaigns. She mentors medical students from the University of the West Indies and Caribbean medical schools who rotate through the pulmonology unit.