In season 6, Webber is forced to resign from his position due to his struggles with alcoholism and is temporarily replaced by Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey).

Despite stepping down, Webber continues as a General Surgery attending, where his experience and legacy still earn him the respectful title of "Chief" from his colleagues.

Webber's complicated personal life is further impacted by a long-standing affair with Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), Meredith's mother, which happened before the series began.

This affair has lasting consequences, including the discovery that Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), a surgeon at the hospital, is his biological daughter.

While the exact motivation for Richard's decision to pursue a career in medicine has never been fully explored, it is heavily implied that his mother's diagnosis and death from colon cancer had a significant influence on his choice to become a doctor and surgeon.

However, in Season 11, Richard admitted to Meredith that his ego and jealousy of Ellis' success as a surgeon played a significant role in the affair's end.

Yet it is also established that he taught and befriended Derek Shepherd and Addison Montgomery, which suggests that a significant part of his career was spent in New York, possibly at Manhattan-based hospitals.

The majority of references in the show, as well as external sources, imply that Richard spent a good portion of his professional life in Manhattan before returning to Seattle Grace.

Nevertheless, he tells the hospital board of his retirement but has yet to name his successor; Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Preston, Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) and Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) are all eagerly clamoring for the post.

He consequently moves in with Derek in his trailer home and tries to repair his life as a divorcée for the remainder of the season until, by the end, he reasserts his good reputation to his wife and wins her back.

Adding to his new behavior, he seems to becoming more and more agitated by Meredith Grey's (Ellen Pompeo) presence in his life as she is a reminder to him of every mistake he has made over the years.

However, as he finally comes to terms with Bailey's choice, she confides to the Chief that her husband has left her with an ultimatum - if she takes the fellowship in Pediatrics, he will divorce her.

At first, he tells Meredith, who he has taken under his wing to help out learning new skills, that he wasn't an alcoholic, but rather in a state of depression, and he promised that his eggnog at Christmas would be his last drink.

He was given the choice by Derek and the board, to retire early or enter a rehab program where he would receive help for his drinking, and possibly gain his job back.

After the truth is revealed, which causes Meredith to lose her job, Richard takes the blame and steps down as chief of surgery to protect her, being replaced by Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd).

In Season 8, Richard and Catherine run into each other in the hotel where they are staying while in San Francisco to serve as examiners for the boards and have a one-night stand.

However, Catherine's son Jackson (Jesse Williams), who was also there to take his boards and worked under Richard at Seattle Grace Mercy West, is horrified after finding out about the relationship.

As Season 11 progresses, it is revealed through moments of flashbacks from Meredith that Maggie is in fact Richard's daughter, and that Ellis gave her up out of shame and suffering from depression.

In the Season 13 episode "The Room Where It Happens", when a male patient is wheeled into the OR, where Meredith, Hunt, and Stephanie Edwards (Jerrika Hinton) are waiting, Webber shows up to help having napped all day.

Meredith gives Webber her power of attorney after contracting the virus, and in the winter finale of Season 17, he makes the decision to put her on a ventilator.