Dr. James Lanik is a former Chief of Trauma Surgery at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. For a time, he was the interim chief of the Emergency Department. He was portrayed by Nate Santana.
Quick Answers
What role did Dr. James Lanik play at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center?
Why was Dr. Lanik promoted to interim head of the Emergency Department?
Who did Dr. Lanik succeed as head of trauma surgery?
What conflicts did Dr. Lanik have with his colleagues at the medical center?
Who portrayed Dr. James Lanik in the series?
Biography[]
Lanik was initially hired as the new head of trauma surgery, succeeding Connor Rhodes. However, he was quickly promoted to interim head of the ED when Gwen Garrett refused to renew his predecessor Stanley Stohl's contract.
Initially, he butted heads with many of his colleagues, especially Connor Rhodes. He was perceived as spineless and cowardly for refusing to do the right thing, especially when it was not in the hospital's financial best interest. He was regarded as a "snitch" for Gwen Garrett.
Throughout seasons 4 and 5, he continued to have an adversarial relationship with most of his staff. At the beginning of season 6, he steps down due to the pressure from the coronavirus pandemic, and becomes Chief of Trauma Surgery.
Season 5[]
Never Going Back to Normal[]
Lanik treats Tim Burke after his attack on Will and Natalie in Will's car.
We're Lost in the Dark[]
Lanik welcomes back Natalie for her first shift after her TBI, forcing her to work a half shift, even though she deems it unnecessary. He and Natalie treat a teenager who is brought in with a gunshot wound. When Natalie offers to help stabilize the patient, Lanik sidelines her and orders her to transfer the patient up to surgery, which is normally a nurse's job. After Natalie performs an emergency thoracotomy on the patient in a stuck elevator, he congratulates her on her success, but adds that he is still keeping his eye on her.
Season 6[]
When Did We Begin to Change[]
Lanik clashes with Ethan and April over whether to allocate the last ECMO machine to a dying COVID-19 patient. He refuses to allocate the machine because it will not change the patient's outcome.
Those Things Hidden in Plain Sight[]
Lanik has stepped down due to the pressure from the coronavirus pandemic, and Ethan is named the new head of the ED. It is unclear whether Lanik continued in a different role, or whether he left the hospital altogether.
Do You Know the Way Home?[]
Lanik is seen in surgeon scrubs, and the title under his name says Chief of Trauma Surgery.
Season 8[]
What You See Isn't Always What You Get[]
Lanik is mentioned to still be working at the hospital when he is needed to take over a surgery after Dean Archer becomes incapacitated.
Memorable Quotes[]
(to paramedics about Tim Burke): "Hey - he dies en route? Wouldn't break my heart."
Gallery[]
.jpg "Chicago Med 4x03 Heavy is the Head promo (1).jpg (117 KB)")
.jpg "Chicago Med 4x06 Lesser of Two Evils promo (6).jpg (126 KB)")
.jpg "Tell Me The Truth (1).jpg (86 KB)")
Appearances[]
| Season 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speak Your Truth | Nothing to Fear | Trust Your Gut | Naughty or Nice | Mountains and Molehills |
| Ties That Bind | Over Troubled Water | Lemons and Lemonade | On Shaky Ground | Down By Law |
| Folie à Deux | Born This Way | Best Laid Plans | Lock It Down | Devil in Disguise |
| An Inconvenient Truth | The Parent Trap | This Is Now | Crisis of Confidence | The Tipping Point |
| Season 4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Be My Better Half | When to Let Go | Heavy Is the Head | Backed Against the Wall | What You Don't Know |
| Lesser of Two Evils | The Poison Inside Us | Play by My Rules | Death Do Us Part | All the Lonely People |
| Who Can You Trust | The Things We Do | Ghosts in the Attic | Can't Unring That Bell | We Hold These Truths |
| Old Flames, New Sparks | The Space Between Us | Tell Me the Truth | Never Let You Go | More Harm Than Good |
| Forever Hold Your Peace | With a Brave Heart | |||
| Season 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never Going Back to Normal | We're Lost in the Dark | In the Valley of the Shadows | Infection, Part II | Got a Friend in Me |
| It's All in the Family | Who Knows What Tomorrow Brings | Too Close to the Sun | I Can't Imagine the Future | Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore |
| The Ground Shifts Beneath Us | Leave the Choice to Solomon | Pain Is for the Living | It May Not Be Forever | I Will Do No Harm |
| Who Should Be the Judge | The Ghosts of the Past | In the Name of Love | Just a River in Egypt | A Needle in the Heart |
| Season 6 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| When Did We Begin to Change | Those Things Hidden in Plain Sight | Do You Know the Way Home? | In Search of Forgiveness, Not Permission | When Your Heart Rules Your Head |
| Don't Want to Face This Now | Better Is the Enemy of Good | Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons | For the Want of a Nail | So Many Things We've Kept Buried |
| Letting Go Only to Come Together | Some Things Are Worth the Risk | What a Tangled Web We Weave | A Red Pill, a Blue Pill | Stories, Secrets, Half-Truths and Lies |
| I Will Come to Save You | ||||
| Season 7 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You Can't Always Trust What You See | To Lean In, or To Let Go | Be the Change You Want to See | Status Quo, aka the Mess We're In | Change Is a Tough Pill to Swallow |
| When You're a Hammer, Everything's a Nail | A Square Peg in a Round Hole | Just as a Snake Sheds Its Skin | Secret Santa Has a Gift for You | No Good Deed Goes Unpunished... in Chicago |
| The Things We Thought We Left Behind | What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You | Reality Leaves a Lot to the Imagination | All The Things That Could Have Been | Things Meant to Be Bent Not Broken |
| May Your Choices Reflect Hope, Not Fear | If You Love Someone, Set Them Free | Judge Not, For You Will Be Judged | Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes | End of the Day, Anything Can Happen |
| Lying Doesn't Protect You from the Truth | And Now We Come to the End | |||
Chicago PD[]
- S4E12 Sanctuary