What happened to Scott Baldwin on ‘General Hospital’?

General Hospital may feature a lot of doctors, as the soap opera’s name implies, but lawyer Scott Baldwin has made a name for himself ever since his first appearance. Fans have always enjoyed watching him, especially since he has become a little more evil in recent seasons, but what’s he up to right now?

Kin Shriner took on the role of Scott Baldwin in 1977, so needless to say, he’s used to portraying a character who deals with one problem after another. Besides starring on Port Charles, the GH spinoff, he’s also a true soap star who played characters on As The World Turns, The Young and the Restless, and The Bold and the Beautiful (AKA he’s busy and great at memorizing lots of dialogue!).

Where is General Hospital character Scott Baldwin now?

According to Distractify, Scott Baldwin has been missing from General Hospital because Shriner needed an operation on his foot. He posted on X on August 13th, 2024 that he was “Counting days till out of boot and back to my favorite pastime @Vesap_Official and acting.” While soap actors might seem totally superhuman at times since they work such intense days, this is a reminder that they need some time off, just like everyone else.

As of now, there isn’t an official date for when he’ll be back on set and fully entrenched in Scott’s dramatic world again. Scott also has an enemy in Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Bernard), and since they still have a lot of unfinished business, it wouldn’t make sense for Scott not to come back to the soap opera. Each 2024 cast member plays such a key role in the twisty town of Port Charles.

While plenty of General Hospital characters have lives that seem totally out of control, Scott has had a particularly rough ride. Between falling in love with various people, he has also had some serious family problems, from having a serial killer as a son, to learning his daughter Serena (Carly Schroeder) was abducted. (Being a parent on GH clearly means more than dealing with homework, toddler tantrums and picky eating!)

While fans want Shriner to be totally healed before Scott comes back to Port Charles, at least he isn’t seriously injured, so his hiatus shouldn’t be that much longer. Shriner never said he felt finished with his character, although there have been moments in the past few years when he wondered if the choice was being made for him. According to Soap Opera Network, he tweeted in January 2022 that Scott wouldn’t be in Port Charles anymore: “Thanks ‘General Hospital’ fans for all the encouraging mentions. Scott’s run is done, so heading to Florida to ride Vespa around the tropics.” Then, in May 2023, he said Scott “was written out.”

Although a few other actors played Scott, it seems that the decision was made to have Shriner take a break from General Hospital rather than have someone else portray his character, which is honestly a great idea. While soap fans have to simply accept when a bunch of actors play the same character (or when someone who was thought to be dead is suddenly alive again), it’s still more realistic when one person plays the same role. So, let’s have some fun imagining what Scott will get up to when he is in Port Charles again!