Dr. Kim Leah Bright

Dr. Kim Leah Bright was a brilliant physician and diagnostician who practiced psychiatry for 35 years. Dr. Bright was a dedicated psychiatrist who served thousands of children in the Baltimore and D.C. region. She passed from this life on Saturday, February 1, 2025, at the age of 63. She was a Straight-A graduate from the University of Maryland College Park (1984), where she studied Microbiology, and the Howard University College of Medicine, class of 1988. Dr. Bright was Board Certified in Adult, Child and General Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She specialized in child and adolescent psychiatry, and was renowned throughout the State of Maryland. Before retiring in 2023, Dr. Bright practiced most recently at the Regional Institute for Children & Adolescents, and all over Maryland, including the University of Maryland College Park University Health Center, as Medical Director of the Maryland State Behavioral Health Administration, and Clinical Director of Springfield Hospital Center. She achieved Distinguished Fellow Status with the Maryland Psychiatric Society, and American Psychiatric Association January of 2022. She was the Medical Director of the State Behavioral Health Administration, at ValueOptions Maryland. She maintained a private psychiatry practice, was a lecturer at Taylor Manor Hospital and others. Dr. Bright served on various medical committees, including the Black Psychiatrists of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, National Medical Association, Maryland Medical Society, Maryland Physician Health Program, Maryland Psychiatric Society, Maryland Regional Council Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association, Maryland Medicaid Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, Community Psychiatry and Diversity Coalition, Quality of Care Committee, Advisory Board on Prescription Drug Monitoring of Maryland, Maryland Physician Health Program Advisory Committee, and the University of Maryland’s Executive Committee for Springfield Hospital Center. Dr. Bright also served as a volunteer assistant professor for medical fellows at academic institutions in Maryland and abroad, including University of Maryland Medical System College Park, St. Georges University, and the American University of the Caribbean. Dr. Bright was a working member of a group on safe practices on reducing seclusion restraint pertinent to child and adolescent patients. Dr. Bright was born in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 1961 to the late Cornelius E. Bright, DDS, and Mrs. Alma L. Bright, RN. She was raised in the Washington, D.C. area. She attended District of Columbia and Montgomery County Public Schools. Dr. Bright met her husband, the love of her life, Elton Earl, in 1995. She loved listening to jazz, attending concerts, traveling, and eating crabs during the summertime. Dr. Bright loved animals, and they loved her in return, especially her family childhood cat Angie, and her dog niece Violet. She was a tremendous cook who loved baked ham. Her delicious pies were delivered to friends and family, and were beyond compare. She loved going to the Gem Cutter’s Guild annual Gem Show with her sister. Also, it is little known that Dr. Bright was an exceptionally skilled artist whose drawings are prized among family and friends. Dr. Bright’s work was more than her medical practice. She served as a professional consultant to the Behavioral Health Parent Support Group, was an active member of the Columbia Chapter of the Continental Societies, Inc. which is an international public service organization that supports, promotes and develops the welfare of children facing barriers in Howard County. Dr. Bright was a founding member of the Howard County Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women. Dr. Bright is survived by her beloved Husband, Mr. Elton Earl; Sister, Cornelia Bright Gordon, Esq.; Brother Mark A. Bright LCDR USN (Ret), Brother-In-Law Hon. Robert A. Gordon, Esq. Also surviving are Sister-In-Law Sonovia Bright, her nieces and nephew, Drew (April), Pierce, (Phd.) (M.K.) and Alexandra, (Esq.) (Russell) Gordon, Taushiana, Tanaya (Blake) and Tiara Bright, Godson Akbar Tolbert, nieces Kerice and Kayla Binns, an uncle, four aunts, many cousins, and dearly loved friends and colleagues. The memorial service will be held March 29, 2025, Meeting House, Columbia, Maryland.

Dr. Kim Leah Bright

August 1, 1961 - February 1, 2025