‘General Hospital’ Actor John J. York Sadly Confirms Blood And Bone Marrow Disorder Diagnosis Is Forcing Him To Leave The Soap: “This Isn’t Goodbye” 

By Radhamely De Leon
Published Sep. 14, 2023, 5:18 p.m. ET

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Actor John J. York, who has been a regular fixture on General Hospital since 1991, just announced he will be stepping away from the soap opera after getting some major health news.

After announcing he will be “taking a brief hiatus” from the show last week, York shared in a new update that he will not be returning to show for a couple of months.

“I said I was going to give you an update on the reason I’m taking a little hiatus from General Hospital and here it is,” he said in a video shared on X, a platform formerly known as Twitter. “So last December of ’22, I was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS, and multiple smoldering myeloma — two blood and bone marrow disorders.”

York explained, “Over the past many months, I’ve had three bone marrow biopsies, many chemo treatments, I have another one coming up in a couple of weeks, and I’m closing in on a blood stem cell transplant.”

“I just want to say thanks for all the support over the years. This isn’t goodbye, this is just, ‘So long,’” he said. “I’ll have to take a break [from General Hospital] for at least three, maybe four months, but I’ll be back.”

York got his start on the show in 1991 playing Malcolm “Mac” Scorpio, and has returned to the series throughout the years, appearing in 931 episodes. He has been acting since 1982 and has built a robust career in television acting, with additional appearances in episodes of Veronica Mars, Castle, and Murder, She Wrote.

The video was shared on X with a link to Be The Match, an organization that helps pair donors with those in need of life-saving blood stem cell transplants.

“If it’s possible and you would consider being a donor, joining their registry, for not just me but thousands and thousands of other people who are in need of a donor, go to bethematch.org/matchformac,” he said. 

He concluded his video by thanking his fans again for their support and encouraging them to check the organization out.

More of York can be seen in General Hospital, which is streaming on Hulu.