'Grey's Anatomy' Season 19 on ABC: Why was Seattle Grace renamed as Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?
'Grey's Anatomy' is coming back with its fancy Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital on ABC. However, there are a couple of changes this time around. The viewers know that they might see less of one of their favorite characters Meredith Grey. One of the longest-running medical drama TV series in the history of the genre, 'Grey's Anatomy' has been well received by critics throughout much of its run and has been included in various critics' year-end Top 10 lists. Since its inception, the show has been described by media outlets as a television "phenomenon" or a "juggernaut", owing to its longevity and dominant ratings.
Regardless, the 19th season is arriving soon on your television screens but before that, let's take a trip down the memorial lane and revisit the time when Seattle Grace was renamed Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Read on to know exactly why it happened.
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Remember Derek's childhood best friend Mark Sloan who earned the name "McSteamy" in Season 2 for his good looks and charm by the interns? (You'd probably remember him better as Nate Jacob's dad from 'Euphoria' now.) He was Seattle Grace Hospital's new plastic surgery attending. 'Not Another Teen Movie' actress Chyler Leigh portrayed Lexie Gray, a new intern and Meredith's sister in the series.
Mark and Lexie get into a relationship and had their fair share of ups and downs as well as drama. However, their love story ends in tragedy in the Season 8 finale when Mark, Lexie, Derek, Meredith, Cristina, and Arizona are involved in an aviation accident while on the way to Boise, Idaho, to perform surgery on conjoined twins.
The accident shows Lexie being crushed under debris. After trying and failing to save her, Mark holds dying Lexie by the hand, telling her that he has always and will always love her. He and the remaining surviving crash victims are left stranded in the woods, mourning Lexie and fighting to stay alive. Sadly, she passes away and in season 9, the remaining surgeons are rescued from the wilderness days later and Lexie's body is returned to Seattle. Still devastated by Lexie's passing, Mark tells his protege Jackson, "When you love someone, tell them." Mark felt he did not tell Lexie that he loved her enough when she was alive and he eventually dies because he doesn't recover from his coma.
Following Mark's death, flashbacks of several moments from his life are shown. One of them being at Callie and Arizona's wedding. At the end of his congratulations speech, Mark declares that Lexie was the one, his true partner that he wanted to grow old and dance with at their granddaughter's wedding.
When the remaining survivors of the plane crash pool their compensation money to purchase Seattle Grace Mercy West, they agree to rename it "Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital" in a tribute to Lexie and Mark and that is how Seattle Grace was renamed.
According to TV Line, following their deaths, creator Shonda Rhimes mused regarding the couple's romance: "...He [Mark] and Lexie get to be together in a way. Their love remains true."
'Grey's Anatomy', which follows the personal and professional lives of the doctors at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, is coming back with Season 19 on Thursday, October 6, 2022.