Why Did Jessy Schram Leave Chicago Med In Season 6 & What Led To Her Return?

Jessy Schram and her character of Dr. Hannah Asher have had a complicated journey on "Chicago Med." On Season 5, Schram joined the beloved "One Chicago" series in a recurring capacity, with Hannah's initial storyline focusing on her struggles with sobriety and her burgeoning relationship with Nick Gehlfuss' Dr. Will Halstead. While the character proved to be an interesting addition, she appeared destined for a limited arc, with her relationship with Will and her time at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center coming to a close during the Season 6 premiere. Thus, fans were surprised when Hannah returned near the end of Season 7 with a new lease on life, and Schram has been a mainstay ever since.

Some are no doubt curious why Schram seemingly departed the cast of "Chicago Med" before coming back in an even greater capacity. As it turns out, the actor was originally only slated to appear in a small run of episodes, as she indicated in an exclusive interview with The List. Hannah's story was written to end with her departure from Chicago, though the show's team left room to potentially bring the character back. "Everybody told me on set, 'Hey, you didn't die, so there's always the possibility you're coming back,'" Schram said. "The crew on my last day of filming was like, 'Hey, you're not dying. We'll see you again one day.'"

While the rewriting caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led Schram to believe that any plans for her return to "Chicago Med" had likely been scrapped, she was eventually asked about returning as a series regular. "To get a random phone call a few years later was such a surprise and felt so amazing," she said. "It felt like coming home."

When the team behind "Chicago Med" made their effort to bring back Jessy Schram as a full-time cast member in Season 7, they had several reasons for doing so. For one thing, the showrunners believed that the storyline of Hannah as a character had the potential to continue beyond her initial departure. "She has gone through a long period of rehab recovery and we wanted to bring this character back on the other side, the other end of that process," Andrew Schneider told TVLine. "It's a continuing process, but [we wanted to see] a very different side of her, having gone through this."

Another reason Hannah was brought back to "Chicago Med" was that the executives believed that having her return mid-way through Season 7 would be an exciting twist. This plotline also shook up the show's status quo and provided a new challenge for Nick Gehlfuss' Will. Producer Diane Frolov confirmed this fact to TVLine, stating that Hannah's return gave the show's writing team something to build on heading into a new season. "So it did both those two things: introducing a person that the audience knew but was excited about seeing and giving us the possibility of an ongoing story for next season," Frolov said.

Of course, a bit of utility came with reintroducing Hannah to "Chicago Med," as her medical specialties allow the writers more variety in terms of hospital storylines. "Having an OB-GYN specialist in the E.D. is always a good thing, and those stories have a lot of stakes when it involves childbirth," Schneider noted.