With the show taking place primarily within the walls of fictional hospital Sacred Heart, it makes sense that a lot of Scrubs’ most prominent side characters and guest stars are patients at the hospital.
Over the course of its nine-season run, the show introduced audiences to so many patients that it’s easy to forget about a lot of them – but there’s a handful who stand out as the show’s most memorable. Whether they teach the show’s fresh-faced young doctors valuable lessons about life or death, share an antagonistic relationship with the hospital staff or simply serve as a recurring gag, Scrubs has had more than its fair share of great patients.
10 Murray Marks
Only appearing in the season four episode “My Unicorn”, Murray Marks is one of the best guest stars Scrubs ever had regardless. Murray is tracked down by JD after his father, Gregory, is admitted to Sacred Heart, desperately in need of a kidney transplant.
Murray’s strained relationship with his charismatic father makes him reluctant to go through with the procedure, with Matthew Perry’s excellent delivery and comic timing making him likable despite his multiple flaws. In fact, Perry plays so well off Zach Braff it’s a real shame the character’s arc was over after just one episode.
9 Sam Thompson
While Sacred Heart’s patients can be unpleasant at the best of times, Sam Thompson is easily the most manipulative patient the hospital has ever seen. An infamous drug addict, Sam uses his charisma and charm to win over his physicians, before scamming them out of pain meds and other drugs.
Using this method, Sam has managed to swindle many experienced staff members, including Elliot, Carla, and even Dr. Cox. He later returns to Sacred Heart as a counselor – only for it to later be revealed as yet another ruse to trick his fellow group members out of their narcotics.
8 Private Brian Dancer
Despite many fans of the show having an apparent dislike for Private Brian Dancer, it’s undeniable that the character had a tangible effect on those surrounding him, forging close relationships with JD, Elliot, Turk, and even Dr. Kelso during his stay at Sacred Heart.
Admitted to the hospital with a devastating brain injury following the explosion of an IED, Brian’s physical therapy appears to be successful when he’s able to write his own name by the end of the month. When his condition leads to the army discharging him, however, Brian attempts to overdose on his medication, eventually promising a concerned Elliot that he’ll seek out a therapist.
7 Johnny the Tackling Alzheimer’s Patient
Although most of the patients on this list are fully fleshed-out characters in their own right, Johnny the Tackling Alzheimer’s Patient is more of a running joke throughout the show, first appearing in season two’s “His Story” before returning for a handful of gags in later seasons.
Defined by his obsessive need to tackle people while shouting “Who am I!?”, Johnny is known for striking when his victims least expect it. In fact, Johnny is so swift the character is never actually fully seen, only appearing as a brief blur in each gag – but he’s become a fan-favorite character, nonetheless.
6 Harvey Corman
Infamous for being the most annoying patient ever to walk through Sacred Heart’s doors, Harvey Corman is a highly litigious hypochondriac, constantly bugging the staff of Sacred Heart by showing up announced and refusing to leave until he’s ‘diagnosed’.
Corman is so persistent in fact, that Turk was forced to get a restraining order against him in the show’s fourth season, leading Corman to sue Turk using relentless malpractice lawyer Neena Broderick.
5 Jill Tracy
One of the most frequently recurring patients to be featured in Scrubs, Jill Tracy was introduced in the show’s tenth episode “My Nickname”. Infamous for being an irritating, over-sharing motormouth, Jill gets under the skin of JD and Dr. Cox every time she appears, but beyond her hyperactivity and sunny disposition lies a deep depression.
This is explored in season five when Jill suddenly dies after bumping into JD and Dr. Cox. While the doctors initially fear Jill took her own life due to their emotional negligence, it’s soon revealed that she actually died of rabies – infecting three of Cox’s patients who’d received Jill’s organs.
4 Mrs. Wilk
First appearing in the episode “My Porcelain God”, it didn’t take long for Mrs. Wilk to work her way into hearts of fans, becoming one of the most affable, lovable patients in all of Scrubs. Between dispensing words of wisdom to the hospital’s staff and teaching Turk to ‘pop and lock’ – which, by the way, is perhaps her funniest moment – Mrs. Wilk saw herself become the most popular patient in the hospital.
While she was in and out of Sacred Heart with various illnesses over the years, she eventually succumbed to an aggressive infection spread by a careless intern, with JD and Dr. Cox finding it extremely difficult to accept her death.
3 George Valentine
Despite only appearing in one episode, season eight’s “My Last Words”, George Valentine left a huge impression on JD and Turk, as well as the Scrubs’ fanbase in general. A standoffish man in the process of dying from Ischemic Bowel Disease, Turk and JD decide to cancel their ‘steak night’ to keep George company in his final hours.
As the trio share a beer, George gradually begins to open up to the doctors, sharing an emotional and ultimately uplifting conversation about life and death. It’s one of the most beloved episodes of the entire show, cementing George as one of the show’s most memorable one-off characters.
2 Mrs. Tanner
One of the few patients at Sacred Heart to have a tangible effect on JD’s growth as a doctor, Mrs. Tanner is featured in the fourth ever episode of Scrubs, “My Old Lady”. Smart and witty, Mrs. Tanner exudes warmth and comfort – something new doctor JD is immediately drawn to.
When Mrs. Tanner reveals to JD that she was ready to die rather than undergo dialysis, it has a profound effect on him, who unsuccessfully does everything he can to convince her to prolong her life.
1 Ben Sullivan
The best friend of Dr. Cox and brother of Jordan, Ben Sullivan quickly became a fan favorite character following his introduction in “My Occurrence” thanks to his energetic charisma and likability – able to get along with all walks of life from the fresh-faced young JD to the more curmudgeonly Dr. Cox.
While Ben isn’t introduced as a patient in Scrubs, he briefly dons a gown at Sacred Heart when it’s revealed he has leukemia, which he later learns has gone into remission. Still, in a tragic turn of events, Ben’s cancer returns, and he dies during a routine check-up in “My Screw Up” – which is widely considered the most devastating episode of the entire show.
