Daytime Emmy winner Maura West is headed back to daytime. The actress, as has been rumored for more than a week following a Daytime Confidential story, has joined the cast of ABC's General Hospital.

According to Soap Opera Digest, West has been signed to play the newly created role of Ava Jerome. If the character name sounds somewhat familiar, it's with good reason: Port Charles has already been graced by a family with the surname Jerome. The mobster family stirred things up on GH in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s.

So is this the same family -- and if so, would there be any ties to existing characters? ABC has not commented on whether or not West's Ava Jerome is part of the same family, but it's rare that characters share a last name for no reason. And while it is all purely speculation at this point, there are numerous possible character interactions that could take place. Duke Lavery was once an associate for the Jerome family. Also, Julian Jerome and wife Cheryl Stansbury are the biological parents of Lucas Jones (Tony and Bobbie's adopted son), who has been rumored to be returning to Port Charles.

To learn more about the Jerome family, visit our Family Trees in the About GH section of our site.

During her 15 years with As the World Turns, West was twice awarded the Outstanding Lead Actress trophy at the Daytime Emmys. She also received four additional nominations -- three as Lead Actress and one in the Supporting Actress field.

After the cancellation of As the World Turns, West signed on with The Young and the Restless to play the role of Diane Jenkins. Despite the high profile of the casting coup, the actress' new role was quickly killed off. Insiders at the time said that the role wasn't working in story.

West has already started taping at General Hospital, and the actress is expected to make her debut sometime in May.