Dr. Natalie Manning Has Been a Staple on ‘Chicago Med’ Since the Start — Where Did She Go?

Fans are used to drama on the NBC medical drama show Chicago Med. It seems like every episode we’re on our toes wondering what’s going to happen.

And we have to prepare ourselves for twists we didn’t see coming. With Season 7 came a huge change, and now fans want to know: What happened to Dr. Manning?

Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto), an attending emergency medicine physician specializing in pediatrics at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, has been around since the beginning, but Season 7 saw her character take a turn.

In all the seasons of the show, Dr. Manning has been through a lot. In Season 5, fans were seriously concerned that her days were numbered after an accident that left her with some pretty serious head trauma.

From there, it seemed like Dr. Manning was never quite the same. She used to be a really respected doctor who was more uptight than one to bend the rules.

But in the time after her accident, she started to make some questionable decisions. Those decisions didn’t only put her career at risk — it put her patients at risk too.

There was one case where she was treating a child whose parents believed in seeking natural remedies first. But in nearly every step of the way, Dr. Manning ignored the parents’ choices. There were some pushes that she made to the parents that it was clear they weren’t comfortable with.

However, Dr. Manning absolutely crossed the line when she locked herself in the room with the minor patient and disregarded the parents, giving the child antibiotics. And it seems the doctor continued to fall down that path from there.

The crossing point came in Season 6 when Dr. Manning resorted to stealing drugs for her mom, who was sick. Natalie stole medication Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) used in a clinical trial. He tried to take the blame, which resulted in his firing.

The guilt got the better of Natalie, and she eventually confessed to being the one who stole the medication. That meant Will was reinstated, and the end was even closer for Dr. Natalie Manning. The team couldn’t trust her again, and she knew it.

During the premiere of Season 7, Natalie makes a brief appearance basically just to bid farewell to Will. And then she and her son moved away. And that was the end — at least for now (we can never say never).

Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov, showrunners of Chicago Med, shared with fans what happened to Dr. Manning after she left the hospital. “She’s, right now, going back to Seattle, where she’s from, and being with her family,” Diane said to TVLine. “Her mom is from there, and she’s going to be getting a gig at a hospital there.”

Andrew added, “A good, really prominent hospital. Her career is not damaged. Goodwin did not make a big deal; she just let her go. So, she goes on. She is going to be fine.”

It was known ahead of time that something was going to happen to Dr. Natalie Manning after Torrey, who had been playing the character for six seasons, announced her exit.

She made the news official on May 12, 2021, on Instagram writing, “Well, looks like the cat is out of the bag...All good things must come to an end. It has been such an honor and pure joy to bring Dr. Natalie Manning to life for all of you on Chicago Med for the past 6 seasons. But it is now time for her and me to bow out and say goodbye.”

Finishing off her goodbye, Torrey mentioned that she can’t wait for fans to find out what she has coming next. So, we’re just guessing she had a new opportunity that was too good to pass up. Next up, we'll see Torrey in a lead role for the film Skelly, which follows a young boy attempting to understand death following his grandfather's passing.

Tune in to new episodes of Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.