Ellen Pompeo on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Ending, Making an Impact in Medicine

• While promoting Betr Remedies, Ellen Pompeo told Insider she’s ready for “Grey’s Anatomy” to end.
• “I’ve been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end,” she said.
• In the meantime, Pompeo wants to help make sure marginalized people’s stories are told.

“Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo has no idea how her character Dr. Meredith Grey’s story will end, but she knows she’d like everyone to have the answer as soon as possible. 

“I’ve been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end,” she recently told Insider while promoting her company Betr Remedies, where she serves as its cofounder and chief impact officer. But Pompeo says she’s having a hard time convincing others to pull the plug on a show that has been so successful for nearly two decades.

“​I feel like I’m the super naive one who keeps saying, ‘But what’s the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?'” she continued. “And everyone’s like, ‘Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars.'”

As she waits for everybody else to agree that “Grey’s Anatomy” is approaching its natural end, she’s forging a new path for herself outside of the halls of Prospect Studios, where ABC’s hit most recently filmed its historic 18th season.

Pompeo is trying to make the world of medicine more equitable when the cameras stop rolling

A little bit of Meredith Grey’s spirit must have seeped into Pompeo’s veins after nearly two decades in the role. She told Insider that when the pandemic hit the US, her way of coping with the country’s crisis was to start a series of Zooms called “Healing Healthcare.” 

The series featured Pompeo in conversation with medical workers, talking about issues like “the state of healthcare” and “racism in healthcare.” The goal, she said, was to “provide a space for people to have conversations and people to listen to conversations about what healthcare workers were actually going through.”