Grey’s Anatomy will give health care workers’ coronavirus stories a spotlight

Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff has given the show a heavy rom-com feel in recent years, but there’s a good chance this will change slightly.

Ever since Grey’s Anatomy shut down its production and donated its medical supplies to aid COVID-19 efforts, fans have wondered if coronavirus would ever make its way into the show’s future storylines once the show resumes. We finally have an answer.

Executive producer Krista Vernoff said during a recent panel: “There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes.” And if past history is any indication, Grey’s won’t take the subject lightly.

In its 16-season run, the medical drama has addressed real-world issues ranging from mental health to sexual assault, gun violence, and even police brutality. It’s often jokingly categorized as a soap opera even among its most beloved fans. But when things get serious and there’s a message that needs sending, Grey’s doesn’t mess around.

How does the show portray these issues from a medical perspective as accurately as possible? By talking with real doctors who are on the front lines of various experiences. This has become even more relevant now that these professionals are being given the chance to talk about how things have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Every year, we have doctors come and tell us their stories, and usually they’re telling their funniest or craziest stories,” Vernoff said, “This year, it has felt more like therapy. The doctors come in and we’re the first people they’re talking to about these types of experiences they’re having. They are literally shaking and trying not to cry, they’re pale, and they’re talking about it as war — a war that they were not trained for.”

For many, tuning into shows like Grey’s serves as a much-needed escape from reality. But its showrunner doesn’t believe ignoring real-world events of this magnitude would be the responsible thing to do.

“I feel like our show has an opportunity and a responsibility to tell some of those stories,” she said.

Just because the show covers the pandemic doesn’t mean it will lose its lighthearted moments, Vernoff promised. “Our conversations [with Grey’s writers] have been constantly about how do we keep alive humor and romance while we tell these really painful stories,” she said.

Nothing is final yet, and it’s likely filming on season 17 won’t start for a while. But fans can expect so see some of the stories they’re hearing about portrayed through the eyes of doctors on TV at some point in the future.

The show may be fictional. But it has the power to paint a realistic picture of what’s happening in our world while entertaining its audience at the same time.

As always, Grey’s can attempt to educate its viewers and have them nearly in tears laughing all in the same scene. And maybe, by the time the show airs again, that will be exactly what we need.

Do you want to see the pandemic become part of a fictional show? How do you think they’ll handle it?