Sara Ortiz is a surgical resident at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital who started shortly after the beginning of the pandemic.
History[]
Internship[]
Due to the growing Covid-19 pandemic, Sara and her fellow medical school graduates were sent to their residency programs earlier than the standard start date. They arrived on the first day and were welcomed reluctantly by Tom Koracick. He gave them assignments and then left tape and a marker to make name tags for themselves.
Later, while waiting in line to be tested for Covid-19, Sara was told she was wearing her PPE incorrectly and had Mabel Tseng teach her the proper way to don and doff it.
At the end of the day, Richard took her, plus her mother and Reza Khan, into an OR where he modified his traditional intern speech to fit the pandemic. He promised them he'd help them learn as much as they could and said they'd get through it together. ("My Happy Ending")
Sara struggled to adapt to the requirements of her new job, accidentally ordering a pregnancy test for a male patient while using the computer. ("You'll Never Walk Alone")
Later, Sara helped treat Marcella Diaz, who had COVID-19 that was worsening. When she declined to the point where she needed a ventilator, Sara helped intubate her only to find there was only one ventilator available and her daughter also needed it. After some dispute over who would get the ventilator, Maggie found a way to split the ventilator power so both of them could use a single machine. Sara and her mother, Alma, were left to supervise them after they were ventilated and Alma comforted her daughter. ("Breathe")
Sara was tasked with repeatedly calling Winston after he was pulled over on his way to Seattle and the police officer forced him to hang up his phone. She called him continuously until Maggie took her phone back. ("Sign O' the Times")
Sara worked with Amelia on Skyler Nichols, who had been in a car accident. She took a phone to Skyler's father so Amelia could update him on her condition and sat in with Amelia as she did MRIs on Skyler when she didn't wake up for several weeks after her surgery. ("I'm Still Standing")
Gerlie Bernardo[]
When Meredith took over the residency program at the hospital, she cancelled grand rounds in favor of having the residents shadow her on Gerlie's case, as she suffered through multiple post-COVID complications.
In January, Sara was able to get her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine along with the rest of the hospital staff. Meredith also had the residents still working on Gerlie's case, specifically trying to get Bailey to put Gerlie on the list for a double lung transplant. Finally, Bailey agreed and in April 2021, Gerlie got her lungs. ("Someone Saved My Life Tonight")
Phoenix Fair[]
When Brad DiMarco came to the ER with a massive facial injury from a firework, Tara Brown accompanied him. When she banged on the window of the trauma room and frantically begged the doctors to save him, Sara went out to deal with her. ("Here Comes the Sun")
Rashida Flowers[]
Sara worked on the case of Rashida Flowers, a social media influencer who had chronic kidney failure and needed a new port to receive dialysis. While working on her, Sara learned that Black patients are subjected to a multiplier when their kidney function is assessed based on assumptions about Black bodies, which made Rashida ineligible for a transplant while a white patient with the same numbers would be eligible. When her last access port failed, Winston insisted that she be placed on the transplant list. Finally, when Rashida woke up, he and Sara were able to tell her she was on the list. ("Some Kind of Tomorrow")
Later, after Rashida received a kidney, Sara said her numbers all looked good. ("Hotter Than Hell")
Grand Rounds[]
The residents were told they'd have a surprise guest for grand rounds one day. Right before it started, they learned that guest was Addison Forbes Montgomery. When they met, she quizzed Levi on a medical fact related to her case and when he got it right, told him he'd be presenting the case. She then took them to meet Tovah Freedman, who had had a hysterectomy due to placental abruption and then had lost her husband. She was there in the hopes that a uterine transplant could help her conceive and carry a healthy pregnancy. The residents all observed the surgery and answered questions as Addison asked them until the HVAC system went offline and some of them were called away to help move patients and cancel surgeries. Despite this, Addison completed her surgery and afterward, the residents followed Meredith and Addison and continued their gossip. When they saw them exiting the elevator with Addison crying, they assumed Meredith had said something to make her cry. ("Hotter Than Hell")
The residents enjoyed this new teaching method and eagerly awaited each day. ("Bottle Up and Explode!")
When The Webber Method resulted in the death of Devon Gomez, Sara attended the M&M conference convened to determine what could have been done differently to prevent his death. ("Living In a House Divided")
Relationships[]
Familial[]
She and her mother, Alma, matched to Grey Sloan Memorial at the same time.
Career[]
She is a surgical resident at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Notes and Trivia[]
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
Grey's Anatomy, Season 17 | |||||
#01 | "All Tomorrow's Parties" | #07 | "Helplessly Hoping" | #13 | "Good as Hell" |
#02 | "The Center Won't Hold" | #08 | "It's All Too Much" | #14 | "Look Up Child" |
#03 | "My Happy Ending" | #09 | "In My Life" | #15 | "Tradition" |
#04 | "You'll Never Walk Alone" | #10 | "Breathe" | #16 | "I'm Still Standing" |
#05 | "Fight the Power" | #11 | "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right" | #17 | "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" |
#06 | "No Time for Despair" | #12 | "Sign O' the Times" |
Grey's Anatomy, Season 18 | |||||
#01 | "Here Comes the Sun" | #08 | "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" | #15 | "Put It to the Test" |
#02 | "Some Kind of Tomorrow" | #09 | "No Time to Die" | #16 | "Should I Stay or Should I Go" |
#03 | "Hotter Than Hell" | #10 | "Living In a House Divided" | #17 | "I'll Cover You" |
#04 | "With a Little Help From My Friends" | #11 | "Legacy" | #18 | "Stronger Than Hate" |
#05 | "Bottle Up and Explode!" | #12 | "The Makings of You" | #19 | "Out for Blood" |
#06 | "Everyday Is a Holiday (With You)" | #13 | "Put the Squeeze On Me" | #20 | "You Are the Blood" |
#07 | "Today Was a Fairytale" | #14 | "Road Trippin'" |