This is the only episode of the series not to feature Donald Westphall, Mark Craig or Daniel Auschlander.
During the second poker game scene Dr. Fiscus mentions Kaposi sarcoma when speaking of disease outbreaks. This is likely a direct reference to the growing number of cases of this otherwise rare disease being found in patients during the early AIDS epidemic.
This episode featured an uncredited appearance from Chad Lowe. He would eventually appear on ER, a show heavily inspired by St. Elsewhere.
James Hong converses in Mandarin in this episode; he spoke a southern Chinese dialect called Taishanese as a child.