Who is the leader of the Grady Memorial Hospital group?

Dawn Lerner is the leader of the Grady Memorial Hospital group in The Walking Dead. She commands the Atlanta hospital’s police officers and controls its system of rescuing survivors in exchange for forced labor.

Dawn is a lieutenant who believes Grady’s strict rules are necessary to keep the hospital operating. Patients are expected to repay their rescue by working, while officers maintain order and recover people from the surrounding area. Her authority is challenged by Beth Greene, whose time at Grady exposes the group’s coercive and morally compromised structure.

Steven Edwards is the hospital’s doctor, not its leader. O’Donnell is one of Dawn’s officers, and Beth is a patient held there. Dawn’s storyline culminates in “Coda,” when Rick’s group negotiates a prisoner exchange for Beth and Carol. The hospital storyline is specific to the television series; Dawn Lerner has no direct counterpart in the comic books.