‘The Pitt’ cast honors UCLA Healthcare workers with surprise hospital visit
It’s not every day that The Pitt cast walks into your hospital and brings massages, free goodies, and an early screening of an unaired episode. For workers at UCLA Health, though, January 21 was not every day.
On Wednesday, after a full day of pampering and restoration courtesy of HBO Max, Volvo, and other partners, cast members from the Emmy-winning drama series surprised doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center hospital by bringing the upcoming third episode from Season 2 and then hosting a fireside chat to talk about the series.
Throughout the day, employees were encouraged to take full advantage of rejuvenation services and freebies — including Hyperice leg compression sessions, back massages, free products from FIGS, LiquidIV, Touchland, and more, as well as snacks and refreshments just to keep them powered up through their day. Just before the screening, too, the scrub-adorned employees were encouraged to feel like the real stars of the show as HBO Max set up a red carpet and a camera as a fun photo opportunity… new headshot, anyone?
After getting to watch Season 2 Episode 3 — which releases on HBO Max at 6 p.m. PT — a day early, UCLA Health staff was joined by Patrick Ball (Dr. Langdon), Katherine LaNasa (Dana Evans), Fiona Dourif (Dr. McKay), Taylor Dearden (Dr. King), Isa Briones (Dr. Santos), and Gerran Howell (Dr. Whitaker), who took part in a fireside chat Dr. Peggy Tseng. Dr. Tseng, a FIGS ambassador and ED physician who posts videos with her husband in which they react to The Pitt, led the cast in an honest and hilarious conversation about the state of medicine, the impact of the series, and their own experiences with healthcare prior to and while filming.
The conversation was particularly impactful for LaNasa, who won an Emmy back in September for playing the day-shift charge nurse at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center and had her own stories to tell about the healthcare workers who held her hand through a cancer diagnosis.
“I think just my own experience as an actual patient. A lot of people know I had cancer about a year before I did the show, and just the compassion of the nurses, particularly one nurse, just the way she was in the emergency department on like my worst day, the day that I kind of crumbled,” LaNasa told the crowd of healthcare providers. “She was like, ‘The first six months after cancer are really bumpy and it’s not going to stay like this.’ And it kind of it completely changed me. And I never saw her again. It just made me really feel the impact that you guys have. Just like one little kindness really matters […] And so I wanted to bring that today.”
Ball, who plays the embattled and freshly returned from rehab Dr. Langdon in the medical drama, added that it means the world for them as a cast to get to share stories of fiction that come from a very real place, including from doctors and nurses like those in the audience.
“At the end of the day, we’re just all actors, and we’re here to tell a story about you all. And the fact that we get to stop by and feel the support and feel like we have done you guys, any sort of service really means a lot,” Ball said, saying that he’s developed a special “spidey-sense” for people in scrubs out in public since working on the show.
Ball told the room, “When somebody comes up and says that they’ve watched this show and that they appreciate it, it really means a lot because we’re really doing it with you in mind. So thank you so much for your support.”
Take a look at the photos from the special event honoring healthcare heroes at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center hospital below:
The first two episodes of The Pitt Season 2 are now streaming. New episodes release Thursdays at 6 p.m. PT.
If you’re new to HBO Max, you can sign up for as low as $10.99/month with ads, but an ad-free subscription will cost $18.49/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the discounted Disney+ Bundles with Hulu and HBO Max. With ads, the bundle costs $19.99/month and without ads, $32.99/month.
