From Anne Easton of the New York Observer:

Talking with the Exec-Producer of ‘Open Heart,’ An Immersive Experience for All Ages
Barckert explains the genesis of the show, saying, “While I was a writer on Degrassi, the studio behind that show was looking to start a new show that was not centered around a school the way Degrassi is. The idea come up that a hospital might be a great place to set the show, but a hospital might also seem like a weird place to find teens, so we had to work out why would they be there and what would be the trials and tribulations that they’d face in that setting, so when I came onboard the project we sort of had to find what those things would be. Then, the idea for a really intricate family drama with a mystery came out. At that point, we knew we wanted to mesh these ideas together into one show, so we did just that and created this sort of hybrid series that’s family drama and mystery all rolled into one.” Continue reading.