Media inquiries for the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC)  please email: sghanson@uw.edu

Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC)

The Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC) is a product of ongoing collaboration between Washington Disaster Medical Coordination Centers (DMCCs) and the Northwest Healthcare Response Network. WMCC was established to triage and place COVID-19 and related patients requiring acute hospital care in an equitable manner across Washington. Operated 24/7 out of Harborview Medical Center, the WMCC aims to prevent any single hospital or small group of hospitals from experiencing significant COVID-19-related resource strain by balancing patient placement across the region and supporting transport coordination to hospitals with additional capacity. In addition to supporting patient/resident placement from healthcare facilities, such as long-term care centers, the WMCC stands ready to assist hospitals at maximum capacity seeking to decompress by transferring a group of COVID-19 or non-COVID-19 patients to other hospitals for continued care.

Due to a high volume of request calls, the WMCC may not be able to answer your call right away. Please leave a detailed message for the WMCC representative to call you back. Your message should include who is calling, where you are calling from, and a direct number to reach you. If you do not receive a call back within 1 hour, please try calling the WMCC line again. Thank you for your patience.

206-520-7222 | 877-520-7222

WMCC Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. How does the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC) work?

Answer: Through the ongoing support of hospitals across Washington and the Washington Department of Health, the WMCC supports clinicians in identifying appropriate patient bed placement once their normal transfer process has been exhausted.

  1. When should the WMCC be called?

Answer: When hospitals have exhausted their normal patient transfer processes. Typically, facilities report calling 3-4 facilities before reaching out to the WMCC.

  1. Is the WMCC only for hospitals?

Answer: No. The WMCC supports long-term care facilities, other congregate healthcare settings, and EMS in transferring multiple residents that require non-emergency acute care.

  1. Is the WMCC just for COVID patients?

Answer: No. The WMCC is available to ensure that all patients, regardless of cause, receive the appropriate level of hospital care.

  1. Does the WMCC support patient discharge coordination?

Answer: The WMCC does NOT support patient discharge placement.

  1. Does the WMCC provide hospitals and other healthcare facilities a comprehensive report of bed availability for all facilities within the state?

Answer: The WMCC is a resource for patient placement once normal transfer processes have been exhausted. They will communicate with other facilities about bed availability when attempting to place a patient. They do not regularly provide reporting to individual facilities on regional or state-wide bed availability.

  1. How to reach the WMCC?

Answer: 24/7 Availability: 206-520-7222 | 877-520-7222

 

Below are documents and links to related resources: