Fans of “The Pitt” are excitedly awaiting the season two premiere of HBO Max series, which will return at 9 p.m. on Thursday after an Emmy Award-winning first season. But no group is looking forward to the next installment more than the people who work at Allegheny General Hospital.
The hospital on Pittsburgh’s North Side is the backdrop for the medical drama, renamed as the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center onscreen. The show only shoots a couple of days each season at the hospital, but it’s always an exciting experience for staff. On Tuesday morning, HBO showed its appreciation for Allegheny General’s Emergency Department staff with a coffee truck set up outside.
“It’s a gift back to all of the nurses, doctors and all the hospital workers,” said Lauryn Feinstein, marketing and publicity coordinator with MAP360 Collective, a New York City-based agency that works with HBO Max.
The spread included coffee, bagels, pastries, cookies and other breakfast items to nourish the hardworking hospital employees, she said.
“The Pitt” stars medical drama veteran Noah Wyle, who also starred in smash hit series “ER” back in the 1990s and 2000s. Wyle won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2025 for the first season of “The Pitt.” Season one also received the award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Wyle portrays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, and his real-life counterpart at Allegheny General Hospital is Dr. Brent Rau, the medical director for Allegheny General Hospital’s emergency department. He stopped by the coffee truck on Tuesday morning.
“This is wonderful,” he said. “It’s certainly well-deserved for our staff, but it’s great that they would think to do this.”
Rau is also a big fan of “The Pitt.”
“It’s certainly great television, it’s exciting. I’ve said before, we’ve all had those cases in our career, but not all in one shift,” he said.
That comment refers to the format of “The Pitt,” where a season takes place over the course of one shift in the hospital.
Dr. Rau also said that the show’s cast and crew are incredibly gracious while they’re filming on site or return for press tours.
As the chilly, gray morning grew brighter, more employees in sweatshirts and scrubs trickled out to line up for coffee and to choose pastries from a bountiful buffet outside the hospital’s doors.
Caroline Walther, a nurse in the emergency department, spread a bagel with cream cheese as she chatted with her coworkers — a much-needed break during a long shift.
“I feel better than ever,” she said about the free coffee and breakfast.
She’s also a viewer of “The Pitt.” “I think it’s a great show. I think it … gives the public a good idea of what nurses and ER staff go through,” Walther said.
Her fellow ER nurse, Addaleia Beer, agreed that “The Pitt” is realistic.
“Especially emergency department staff and what we see on a daily basis,” she said.
She, too, was putting a bagel on her plate, but she was most looking forward to a caffeine boost. “I’m a big coffee person,” she said.
That was a common sentiment; Dr. Rau said that he had been for one cup of coffee, but was likely to return for a second.
Dr. Imran Qadeer, president of Allegheny General Hospital, was also on hand.
“We’re excited. We’re excited to partner with ‘The Pitt’ and the positive energy it brings to AGH,” he said.
He’s pleased with the portrayal of emergency medicine in the show.
“I think it portrays it really well, I think it portrays the challenges of healthcare pretty accurately, and it shows the hard work that our teams do day in and day out, serving our patients in our community.”
