General Hospital Promotes Chris Van Etten to Co-Head Writer

Everything old is new again in the General Hospital writers’ room.

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Chris Van Etten, who served as co-head writer on the ABC soap until being replaced earlier this year , has once again been promoted to co-head writer alongside Elizabeth Korte. Their first episode as co-head writers will air this Thursday. Plus, script and breakdown writer Cathy LePard has been promoted to associate head writer.

“No one knows General Hospital and its history more than Elizabeth and Chris,” executive producer Frank Valentini said in a statement to Soap Opera Digest , who first broke the news. “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 was first named co-head writer of General Hospital in 2017, but he and Dan O’Connor were replaced by Korte and celebrated soap vet Patrick Mulcahey in January. Just four months later, though, Mulcahey was dismissed , with Korte remaining as the sole head writer and Van Etten returning to the staff as a breakdown writer.

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General Hospital — which won its fourth straight Daytime Emmy for best daytime drama in June — is bringing back some old favorites in the cast as well: Emma Samms will return as Holly Sutton in early September, we learned last month . Also, Jonathan Jackson is slated to reprise his role as Lucky Spencer later this summer, while three-time Daytime Emmy award winner Rick Hearst is returning as Ric Lansing .

How do you feel about all this upheaval behind the scenes, GH fans? Let us know in the comments.

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