Transfer a Patient
The UW Medicine Transfer Center provides a single point of contact for urgent and emergent transfer requests.
UW Medicine hospital transfers
The Transfer Center team includes specially trained registered nurses and Transfer Center coordinators who are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to coordinate transfers into UW Medicine hospitals from the entire WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) and beyond.
Contact the UW Medicine Transfer Center
If you are a patient or family member inquiring about the status of a transfer, please contact the provider at the facility where the patient is currently located.
For local Washington residents: Call 206.520.7575
For those outside of Washington state: Call the toll-free number 877.520.7575
How to transfer a patient to a UW Medicine hospital
Step 1 - Send face sheet
We need this demographic information to create an MRN and help our physicians with their decision to accept a patient as quickly as possible.
Fax to: 206.520.3252 or 206.744.6167
Email to: transfercenter@uw.edu (HIPPA compliant)
Step 2 - Send images
Send images via PACS, Life Image, or secure email.
PACS: Learn about how to send images via PACS
Life Image: Learn about how to send images via Life Image
Email to: transfercenter@uw.edu (HIPPA compliant). Please follow our email guidelines below.
- Images can also be sent via secure email (i.e., burns, hand, ophthalmology, complex wounds)
- Subject line: First initial, last initial, transfer date, DDMMYYYY, referring hospital’s name, referring provider’s name
- File format should be .jpeg
- Nothing over 10 megabytes
Step 3 - Call the Transfer Center
When you call, one of our Transfer Center coordinators will complete an intake and remind you to fax a face sheet and send images as needed. We can help facilitate the transfer of clinical documentation to ensure continuity of care. Our transfer team can also help you coordinate air medical transport via Airlift Northwest. All calls to the Transfer Center are recorded for quality purposes. Call volumes may be high leading to longer wait times.
For local Washington residents: Call 206.520.7575
For those outside of Washington state: Call the toll-free number 877.520.7575
During the phone call with our coordinator, be prepared to provide the following information:
- Patient's name and date of birth
- Referring physician's name and phone number
- Referring facility name and phone number
- Diagnosis, acuity and current clinical condition
- Requested treatment and specialty service
- Information on whether you are requesting a consult or transfer
- If you are requesting a transfer, specify whether the patient is any of the following:
- A patient who has an emergency medical condition (EMC) for which you are requesting transfer because your facility does not have the capacity or capabilities to provide the necessary stabilizing treatment for the EMC.
- A patient who has an EMC and they (or their legally responsible medical decision-maker) are requesting a transfer to another facility.
- An "inpatient" status patient at your facility (i.e., is currently admitted for inpatient care).
Step 4 - Clinical triage and discussion
Our Transfer Center team will connect the referring provider with the appropriate UW Medicine physician to discuss the patient's condition. Decisions to transfer are evaluated based on the required level of care, capacity, approval of the accepting physician and other factors. All calls to the Transfer Center are recorded for quality purposes.
Step 5 - Physical transfer of the patient
If accepted, our team will advise you when to set up transport. Please do not send a patient to UW Medicine until directed by our Transfer Center team.
When transferring a patient, be sure to send the following physical copies:
- Printed medical history and physical (H&P)
- Printed discharge summary
- CDs containing any cardiac images (i.e., echo, cardiac cath)
- Send only if images were not electronically sent
Be sure to inform your patients of UW Medicine's COVID-19 visitor policies. Patients can also text "visitor" to 206.520.5000 for more information.
Harborview Medical Center
325 9th Ave., Seattle, WA 98104
UW Medical Center – Montlake
1959 NE Pacific St., Seattle, WA 98195
UW Medical Center – Northwest
1550 N 115th St., Seattle, WA 98133
Valley Medical Center
400 South 43rd Street., Renton, WA 98055
Hospitals outside of UW Medicine
If you are located in Washington state and are looking to transfer to other hospitals outside of UW Medicine, consider contacting the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC).
For local Washington residents: Call 206.520.7222
For those outside of Washington state: Call the toll-free number 877.520.7222
EMERGENCY TRANSFER
Airlift Northwest
When air transport is necessary, we recommend the referring hospital use Airlift Northwest, but ultimately, we must abide by the transferring physician’s decision, as it is that person’s responsibility to decide what transport mode and service will be used.
Requests for air medical transport can be initiated by the UW Medicine Transfer Center and relayed to the Airlift Northwest Communications Center 800.426.2430 for immediate transport upon acceptance.