‘Grey’s Anatomy’ To Explore COVID-19 Pandemic In Season 17

(Photo: Kelsey McNeal/ABC)

Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital is confronting COVID-19

“Grey’s Anatomy” executive producer Krista Vernoff revealed in an interview with the Television Academy that the medical TV series will tackle the global coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in season 17. “There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes,” Vernoff said.

Vernoff took part in the “Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going” panel along with the show’s stars Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey) and Kevin McKidd (Dr. Owen Hunt).

It was revealed that the show’s writers have already been in meetings with real-life doctors to discuss the pandemic and how to accurately depict it in the show. While previous shows told of real-life doctors’ crazy and funny stories, this year, the meetings in preparation for the show “felt more like therapy.”

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— Greys Anatomy (@GreysABC) May 27, 2020

Despite the hard stories and conversations the doctors are having in the meetings, Vernoff said that she feels like it is the show’s “responsibility” to tell some of the stories. The producers and writers of “Grey’s Anatomy” continue to work and flesh out the drama, but fans of the medical drama will likely need to wait a while longer to see the stories come to life because shooting for season 17 remains on hold due to the ongoing pandemic.