General Hospital Names New Headwriting Team

It would seem that things in the General Hospital writers room may finally be settling down. Back in January, it was reported that Patrick Mulcahey and Elizabeth Korte would be taking over as headwriters from Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor. But by May, it was revealed that Van Etten was back as a breakdown writer and Mulcahey was out. Now Soap Opera Digest is reporting that GH has named Korte’s co-headwriter, and it is, in fact, Van Etten. In addition, script and breakdown writer Cathy LePard has been promoted to associate headwriter. Their first episode will air on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

“No one knows General Hospital and its history more than Elizabeth and Chris,” said executive producer Frank Valentini in a statement. “Cathy joined the show in 2023,  and her talent and love for the genre has been a tremendous asset to this team. We look forward to this dynamic writing combination continuing the legacy of the show and giving our fans much to look forward to.”

Van Etten began his daytime career working at One Life to Live back in 2001, rising to the position of breakdown writer in 2006. After OLTL’s cancelation in 2012, he moved over to GH in 2012 along with headwriter Ron Carlivati and executive producer Frank Valentini to work as a breakdown writer again before being named co-headwriter in 2017, working alongside Shelly Altman.

GH’s other co-headwriter, Korte, has a lengthy history in Port Charles, beginning back in 1994 when she worked on script continuity before becoming a scriptwriter in 1996, then associate headwriter, and ultimately co-headwriter. (In addition, back in 2007, she was the headwriter and co-creator of the GH primetime spinoff, Night Shift.)

GH has been on a roll lately with the emotional fallout from Kristina’s tragic fall and Sonny’s mental health struggles, so hopefully Korte and Van Etten can keep that momentum going!