'Grey's Anatomy's' Shonda Rhimes: 'We're Not Going to See Any Cast Departures'

ABC

"Grey's Anatomy"

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Thursday's "Hard Bargain" episode of Grey's Anatomy.]

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Seattle Grace is for sale and some of its core doctors are resigning, but that doesn't mean the stars of ABC's Grey's Anatomy are going anywhere.

"We're not going to see any cast departures," Grey's Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter of the story line Thursday featured Meredith, Derek, Cristina, Callie and Arizona all tendering their resignation from the hospital

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Following the plane crash that claimed the lives of Lexie (Chyler Leigh) and Mark (Eric Dane), the survivors were awarded a whopping $15 million settlement (each!), rocketing the hospital into dire circumstances.

Enter Constance Zimmer's Dr. Alana Cahill, a physician adviser who has already closed the ER and is shopping Seattle Grace to Pegasus -- whose ownership of a Portland hospital put the focus on the quantity of care vs. the quality of treatment. As such, the plane crash survivors -- led by Derek (Patrick Dempsey) -- all tendered their resignations during Thursday's episode, putting the hospital's sale in question.

"Cahill has a profound affect on the future of the hospital, where it goes, what happens and how it works," Rhimes says. "Everybody is in agreement about the fact that they're not thrilled with what Cahill is doing or the outcome of what she wants to do."

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While Derek, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Callie (Sara Ramirez), Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) and Cristina's (Sandra Oh) departure is done with the right motivations, whether they'll be able to find a partner to help them buy the hospital themselves remains to be seen.

The real hero of the situation, however, may be Owen -- the beleaguered doc who is on the hook for sending the gang on the doomed flight in the first place and the guy who told Cristina that Pegasus would back out of the sale if any of the staff exited. 

"You're going to see them feel the burden of what they've done," Rhimes notes of the survivors. "It's not that they weren't right to do it, but there's definitely a sense of resentment that comes from other people because they have this money and the money has now has made everything harder for everyone else."

Do you think the docs will be able to bail out Seattle Grace? Hit the comments with your thoughts. Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit