PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — HBO’s emergency room drama “The Pitt” embraces everything about Pennsylvania’s other big city, but a real-life Philadelphia doctor was actually instrumental in developing a fan-favorite character.
The fictional emergency department is famously located in Pittsburgh — something charge nurse Dana Evans (played by Katherine LaNasa) makes clear in season 1 after a fight broke out in the waiting room.
“Where do you think you are? This ain’t Philly, this is a hospital!” she shouts.
Aside from these abrupt digs, Philadelphia is represented throughout the show. When developing the character of neurodivergent Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden), writers consulted with real-life Dr. Wendy Ross, the director of Jefferson Health’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity.
Ross got their attention after co-authoring an article about challenges that physicians with autism face.
“Sometimes, by the time they do disclose, all of the sensory changes,” she said. “The communication challenges — by that point, things have gotten so uncomfortable that there’s a negative outcome.”
She met with the writers and explained how a professional with autism would act in the workforce.
“I found it very impressive that they did not want a stereotypical savant doctor,” she said of the showrunners. “Either [the character] knows she’s somewhere on the spectrum, but it’s not disclosing it out of fear of stigma, or she may not know herself at all.”
Ross said the portrayal of Dr. King is realistic and helps reduce the stigma that often comes with autism in the workplace.
“We don’t all have to be autistic experts, but we have to have it on our radar and we have to be accepting of each other,” she said.