*Grey’s Anatomy *star reveals hidden battle with rare genetic disorder, now an ambulatory wheelchair user

The actor has also appeared on "Modern Family," "You," "Scandal," and "Chicago Fire."

By Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm is news director at *. *She has worked at EW for more than eight years. Jillian has previously worked as a reporter, social media editor, and homepage producer at NBC News, Digital First Media, Newsday, and *Random Lengths News.*

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January 4, 2026 12:31 p.m. ET

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Steven W. Bailey as Joe on 'Grey's Anatomy'. Credit:

Michael Desmond/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

*Grey's Anatomy* star Steven W. Bailey is opening up about a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder he's privately dealt with for years and his experience as a new wheelchair user.

"Out of career caution, diagnostic uncertainty, and being private about such things in general, I have been hiding my battle with this disease for over five years. Time to stop," the 54-year-old actor wrote in a lengthy X thread posted on Friday that he referred to as an "open letter."

Bailey shared that he was diagnosed with "a rather rare genetic neuromuscular disorder" called Congenital Myasthenia Syndrome, or CMS.

"CMS is a genetic disease that disrupts the communication between the brain and the muscle at the 'nerve/muscle junction,'" he explained, adding, "My muscles aren't clearly receiving all my brain's orders to do all the swell things muscles are meant to do. It's a drag."

He added that he's "spent years being cautious, private, and quiet" about the disorder, which has been "shaping my life and my work."

The actor is a familiar face to TV viewers, most notably as Joe, the bartender and owner of Emerald City Bar, a popular spot for the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, a role he played for the first seven seasons of ABC's long-running medical drama.

He has also appeared on numerous other hit TV series, including *Chicago Fire, You, Modern Family, Shameless, Scandal, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Bones, Will & Grace, All That, *and* Buffy the Vampire Slayer. *

Steven W. Bailey on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' in 2004.

Kevin Winter/Getty

In his post, Bailey also wrote that his extremities "tire quicker than they should, which makes them weaker" and that "sustained repetitive movements are particularly difficult and can cause my muscles to temporarily tighten and shut down."

As a result, he said, he is now an "ambulatory wheelchair user." Although he can stay on his feet for easy household tasks and brief errands as his disease has progressed, he is now using a powered wheelchair to get around more often.

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He then opened up about the career challenges his condition has presented, but emphasized his desire to still act.**

"Professionally, this is changing me as an actor," he wrote. "Much like walking my dog around the block, or helping at the store, I can still perform on my feet, limitedly. I can ambulate my way through simple 'walks and talks' with no problem. I can still rise to my feet to object to the judge, derail a town meeting, or yell at a cop for being a loose cannon. But, practically speaking, moving forward, it's time for my work, like in my life, to start skewing more wheelchair, if you will."

Steven W. Bailey in 2007.

Andrew Kent/Getty

Declaring that he is "done hiding" now that he has a better understanding of his diagnosis, he wrote, "I am hopeful that there is still room for me in this industry that I love. I look forward to performing as characters who live their lives with a chair, creating a more representative world in film and television. And now that I think of it, I don't need to leap to my feet to object to that judge I mentioned earlier. They'll hear me. And I can derail any town meeting from my chair — no problem. And as far as loose cannons go — well, you get the point."

He then signed off with, "Same guy. Same actor. Same artist. Now with wheels."**

Bailey previously revealed that Joe wasn't the first character he played on season 1 of *Grey's Anatomy. *

**"A lot of people don't realize this, but I actually played a different role for a few episodes in season 1," he said in the book *How to Save a Life *by former ** writer Lynette Rice. "I played an anesthesiologist, believe it or not, with a couple of little lines of, like, 'Pressure is dropping,' or, 'I'm pushing some kind of medication,' or whatever. I think they had plans to develop that character, and then somewhere along the line, they decided he wasn't a thing they wanted to do, and so they came up with this Joe guy instead."**

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