Is Maggie leaving Chicago Med in the season 8 finale?

Big changes may be ahead for Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett). The character has been a Chicago Med staple since day one and has, in many instances, been the glue that keeps Gaffney Medical Center in one piece.

As we discovered in the episode “Look Closely and You Might Hear the Truth”, however, Maggie may be considering employment outside of Gaffney. She revealed to Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) that she’s been meeting with a headhunter to explore jobs at different hospitals…

Is Marlyne Barrett leaving Chicago Med in season 8?

The news shocked viewers as much as it did Goodwin. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that has to be explained in terms of why Maggie would consider leaving. Things have been falling apart at the Gaffney Center throughout the season 8, and tensions have been higher than ever due to the new ownership.

"“I feel guilty even thinking about leaving,” Maggie eventually admitted. “All the changes that are going down in the ED and all this chatter about going for-profit. I have a bad feeling about the direction that Jack is taking us.”"

The heart-to-heart between Maggie and Goodwin seems to comfort the former in terms of not wanting to leave, but the news that gets delivered later in the episode steps on the minor victory this would have otherwise been. The vote for the board goes through and Gaffney gets officially turned into a for-profit hospital.

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We don’t blame Maggie for wanting to work somewhere in which caring for the patient is given priority over profit. The idea of her leaving wasn’t consummated at the end of the episode, as she decided to stick around for a bit longer, but it’s clear the writers want us to be mindful of the fact that she could leave at any time.

The synopsis for episode 20, “The Winds of Change Are Starting to Blow”, confirms that Maggie is headed for more stress in the ER. It states that Maggie will clash with Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) as to how to treat a patient who’s distrustful of hospitals. This is a fascinating premise, given that Maggie herself is becoming less trusting of her own place of employment.

We hope Maggie sticks around for as long as possible, and that Gaffney is able to turn things around after an irrefutable rough patch.

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