Sharon Goodwin (née McGee) is the Executive Director of Patient and Medical Services at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. She is portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson.
Personality[]
As a former Emergency Department charge nurse (a role currently being fulfilled by Maggie Lockwood), she is often able to see issues from a nurse's perspective, rather than a purely business perspective. She is fiercely protective of the people who work under her, but she is also very much inclined to follow rules and protocols. This often leads to heated exchanges with staff members who want to do the right thing, even if it is not the legally correct thing to do.
During the season 1 episode Intervention she celebrates her 32nd wedding anniversary with her husband Bert Goodwin, however he leaves her in the season 1 finale, which leaves her skeptical of the institution of marriage.
Starting in season 4, Sharon is frequently at odds with newly appointed COO Gwen Garrett.
Season 1[]
Derailed[]
Just as Sharon and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are performing the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Emergency Department, pagers start to go off and an influx of victims from an elevated train derailment are brought in. Sharon convinces the emotionally conflicted legal guardians of a pregnant woman who is carrying their baby as a surrogate to authorize life-saving brain surgery, despite the risk to the baby.
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
Season 5[]
Never Going Back to Normal[]
Sharon is concerned about her staff after Will and Natalie are attacked in Will's car by Tim Burke. She witnesses Ava Bekker die on the operating table after she slashes her carotid artery. She comforts Maggie, who has been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She says goodbye to Connor who has decided to leave Chicago after the murder of his father and Ava's suicide.
We're Lost in the Dark[]
When the power goes out, Sharon is furious to learn that the backup generator is located beneath a storm drain and is also flooded. She admonishes the electricians to get it up and running as soon as possible. She informs Maggie that they can't transfer any critical care patients out as Lakeshore Memorial is already on bypass and East Mercy is handling the excess. She advises Maggie to pace herself after her first round of chemotherapy. She approves Will's request to put a patient into isolation who is showing signs of a possible contagious disease infection, and orders Maggie to put a different nurse on the case due to her being immunocompromised from her chemotherapy, but Maggie refuses. When both of the patient's teammates come down with the same symptoms, she refuses Will's request to evacuate the ED, saying that they can't afford it under the current circumstances. She pulls Maggie, who is burning up and feeling faint, out of the treatment room.
In the Valley of the Shadows[]
Sharon forces Maggie to take on Paula as a pupil and to start training her as her new second-in-command, in case she needs to take over Maggie job. When Maggie abuses Paula to the point where she quits, she agrees to let Maggie take April instead. She also convinces Maggie to continue her treatments at Gaffney instead of East Mercy.
Infection: Part II[]
Sharon is under pressure to provide the public with answers about the infection spreading around Chicago. She laments their sensationalist coverage and the way they quote her out of context. She clashes with a representative of the Mayor's office about canceling the upcoming Oktoberfest celebrations.
Got a Friend in Me[]
Sharon mediates between Ethan and Crockett regarding a patient whose path of treatment is unclear. When she arrives to have dinner with Daniel and CeCe, she is surprised to find that Bert has also been invited.
Season 6[]
When Did We Begin to Change[]
Sharon is forced to work from home because her diabetes puts her at risk for COVID-19. She expresses her annoyance at having to take meetings through Zoom. She counsels Dr. Halstead to not jump to conclusions and call the FAA to report an air traffic controller whom he suspects to be an alcoholic.
Those Things Hidden in Plain Sight[]
Sharon, still working from home, announces Ethan as the new Head of the ED. She promises Natalie to make some phone calls about her inmate patient who is about to be separated from her newborn baby, but they are ultimately unable to affect the outcome. On a video call with Will, she explains her reasons for passing him over for the position of Head of the ED in favor of Ethan, citing his frequent demonstrations of poor judgement as the reason.
Do You Know the Way Home?[]
Still working from home, Sharon pressures Ethan to improve the ED's financial numbers.
Season 7[]
You Can't Always Trust What You See[]
Sharon is extremely suspicious of Dr. Matt Cooper and his strong advocacy of the usage of the Vas-COM device, which costs Medicaid 60% more than similar devices. She suspects Cooper is receiving kickbacks for every patient treated with the device. When Dr. Halstead comes to ask for his job back, she agrees to give it to him in exchange for Will investigating Cooper. When the stress of the investigation becomes too much for Dr. Halstead, Sharon convinces him to push on by showing him a case of a patient who likely lost his leg due to use of the device.
And Now We Come to the End[]
When the elevator to the rooftop restaurant where Sharon is having her birthday party malfunctions and Tara goes into labor, Sharon helps deliver her new grandson.
Season 8[]
Season 9[]
Row Row Row Your Boat on a Rocky Sea[]
Sharon scrambles to find extra beds when the ED is overwhelmed by an influx of patients from a multi-car pileup. Against Peter Kalmick's advice, she authorizes Crockett Marcel and Sam Abrams to use OR 2.0 to perform a risky surgery on a 10-year-old boy whose skull has detached from his spine during the accident.
This Town ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us[]
Sharon hires new resident Zola Ahmad, but warns her that because of her spotty employment history (being fired from 2 previous positions for being too impulsive) she is only hired on a probationary basis.
What Happens in the Dark Always Comes to Light[]
It is revealed that Sharon has been secretly dating Gaffney's head of Oncology Dennis Washington. At the end of the episode the two decide it is time to no longer hide their relationship from their colleagues.
These Are Not the Droids You Are Looking For[]
Sharon is distraught when her ex-husband Bert rushes their grandson Isaiah into the ED because Bert fell on him. Her daughter Tara tries to convince her that there is something wrong with Bert because he has been misplacing and forgetting things, but Sharon brushes it off as just him being him. When Tara shows her mother a nanny cam video of Bert acting extremely confused, Sharon realizes there is something seriously wrong with Bert.
I Make a Promise, I Will Never Leave You[]
Sharon enlists Daniel Charles to evaluate Bert's memory. When Daniel suspects Bert indeed needs a full neurological workup and he and Sharon discuss their concerns with him, Bert becomes extremely angry and accuses the two of them of only being after his money. Later on, Bert shows up outside Sharon's house and agrees that he will seek treatment.
Notes and Trivia[]
- Sharon has type 2 diabetes. S. Epatha Merkerson, the actress who portrays the character, also has diabetes and asked for this story line to be incorporated into the show [1].
- In Season 1, Episode 4: Mistaken, we learn that Sharon is a Registered Nurse (RN), a Master of Public Health (MPH) and has an MBA in Healthcare Management. This is shown on the sign outside her office.
- Sharon shares a birthday with her grandson Isaiah[2].
Memorable Quotes []
- (to Will): "Sometimes we want to believe something so badly we ignore the reality in front of us."
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derailed | iNO | Fallback | Mistaken | Malignant |
| Bound | Saints | Reunion | Choices | Clarity |
| Intervention | Guilty | Us | Hearts | Inheritance |
| Disorder | Withdrawal | Timing | ||
Chicago Fire[]
Season 3[]
- I Am the Apocalypse (3x19)
Season 5[]
- Scorched Earth (5x03)
- The People We Meet (5x10)
- Deathtrap (5x15)
Season 7[]
- Going to War (7x02)
Season 8[]
- Infection, Part I (8x04)
Season 11[]
- Something for the Pain (11x10)
Chicago PD[]
Season 3[]
- Climbing Into Bed (3x05)
- The Cases That Need to Be Solved (3x16)
- In a Duffel Bag (3x20)
- Start Digging (3x23)
Season 4[]
- A Shot Heard Round the World (4x08)
Season 6[]
- Endings (6x02)
Season 7[]
- Infection, Part III (7x04)