Harlan R. Gephart, MD

Five 2022 REACH Scholarship recipients have been designated Gephart Scholars in honor of a leader who had a profound effect on The REACH Institute and on generations of children with mental health disorders. Harlan R. Gephart, MD, was “an early and avid proponent of providing mental health services in pediatric primary care,” according to Peter S. Jensen, MD, REACH founder and board chair. “In fact, he may have been the very first primary care practitioner, both nationally and internationally, to advocate for delivering integrated behavioral health services in primary care.”

Dr. Gephart served on the faculty of the REACH course Patient-Centered Mental Health in Pediatric Primary Care (PPP) and was a member of the PPP Steering Committee from 2008 to his death in 2022. An expert in ADHD, he wrote ADHD Complex: Practicing Mental Health in Primary Care (Elsevier, 2018). He was both a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington Medical School and a practicing clinician in the Seattle area. His influence was extended through his long service in many capacities with the American Board of Pediatrics and his membership on the editorial boards of journals devoted to pediatric healthcare.

Dr. Gephart’s death in May 2022 was deeply felt throughout the REACH community. We can think of no better way to honor his work and his legacy than to equip pediatric primary care providers to treat disadvantaged children who suffer from mental health disorders. We therefore plan to designate five Gephart Scholars each year.