Some time off is just what the doctor ordered.
A month after her onscreen sister Ellen Pompeo departed Grey's Anatomy, Kelly McCreary is also scrubbing out during season 19. Ahead of her final episode April 13, the actress behind Dr. Maggie Pierce revealed what—or rather who—she'll miss most.
"I'm going to miss my friends," Kelly exclusively told E! News at PaleyFest on April 2. "I'm going to miss the people, I'm going to miss the stuff we do together on camera. I'm going to miss hanging out in Caterina [Scorsone]'s trailer. I'm gonna miss being greeted by Laura Petticord, our basecamp AD, every day. I'm gonna miss JoAnna Connell, our makeup artist. Everyone—it's the people for me."
But it's not just the people she'll miss as she exits the series after 10 seasons on the ABC medical drama. Kelly also recounted some of her favorite moments from throughout its near two-decade run.
"One that I was involved in that I thought was really amazing was when Bailey (Chandra Wilson) had to go to another hospital to get care for a medical condition that she had," Kelly explained of the season 14 episode. "She wasn't believed because of her Blackness and woman-ness. She needed a lot of people to stand up for her."
It was that real-world resonance that struck the actress.
"I think that extrapolates to any identity, the idea that sometimes we are not believed and we give our trust over, and they're not always taking care of us," she continued. "It was a great argument for making sure your team is in place and being brave enough to ask questions and brave enough to know yourself. I loved that episode."
As for another of her favorite moments? It came even before she joined the show in season 10.
"Callie (Sara Ramirez) and the Chief (James Pickens, Jr.) were going around to other hospitals to see how they functioned," Kelly shared of the season nine storyline. "The patients were treated like numbers in these other places. Again, that's an experience of a lot of people in healthcare."
And that's not just in the world of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
"The dive is not deep enough to really help people find what their problems are because of the way our healthcare system is set up," she explained. "That's not the fault of the doctors or the nurses, it's bigger than that. I was blown away by that."
So, what's next for her after a decade of playing a surgeon in the sexiest hospital in America?
"The creative horizon is broad," Kelly added. "I'll be looking to produce some material for myself and just material I want to see done. I'm really looking forward to stepping into some bodies and characters that are unexpected."
See how Kelly McCreary's time at Grey's Anatomy comes to an end, April 13 on ABC.