Gary Blanchard, MD - Head of Kelley House, Kelley House Mentor

Dr. Gary Blanchard grew up with his mother, father, and little sister in Burlington, MA. He received his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and later worked as a newspaper reporter before entering medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine. Gary completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Saint Vincent Hospital (SVH) in Worcester and also completed a geriatric medicine fellowship at Brown University.

Gary is currently SVH’s medical director of geriatrics-palliative medicine – a role in which he directs an interdisciplinary hospital team of nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and physicians, focused particularly on preventing and treating hospital delirium. As an academic clinician-educator, Dr. Blanchard currently has both an outpatient clinical practice (with prior inpatient, rehab, and hospice work) and is the geriatrics-palliative care educational director for SVH’s medicine residents. He has been able to develop original geriatrics curriculum at the medical student, nursing student, and resident level with the help of a prior federal grant focused on interdisciplinary care for older adults. Gary has served as a leader of UMass Chan's Geriatrics Interest Group since 2009. Since 2017, he has served as a Learning Community mentor, longitudinally advising and teaching Kelley House medical students.

Gary lives in Grafton with his wife, son, daughter, and geriatric cocker spaniel, Ginger. He and his wife Brandi love being involved with coaching Olive and Logan’s various teams, including softball, baseball, soccer, and basketball. Gary has always loved writing, authoring a piece as a medical student in 2004 for The Boston Globe’s Health/Science section: "Is listening through a stethoscope a dying art?" (His 2020 PD1 professor answer: NO!) During medical school, he created and co-managed an entirely student-run, online newspaper, The Connective Issue, thought to be the first of its kind among U.S. medical schools, publishing 12-15 issues per year. He chronicled his residency in regular columns for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Currently, he and his entire family spend many months every year designing and constructing an elaborate haunted house – replete with animatronics and bloody backdrops – in his basement in Grafton, with annual tours given to his Kelley mentees!