This message is from the following clinical leaders and was sent to those who work at UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, and UW Medicine Clinics:
Cindy Hecker, RN, CEO, UW Medical Center
Sommer Kleweno Walley, MHA, MA, CEO, Harborview Medical Center
Pranika Laing, Assoc. Administrator, UW Medicine Primary Care and Population Health
Many of you have expressed questions and concern regarding new policies allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enter our hospitals and clinics for immigration law enforcement. We are working to understand the scope of these policy changes. Our priorities continue to be ensuring the well-being of our patients and providing a safe environment for our employees while remaining committed to our mission and complying with state and federal laws.
We want to provide you with as much information as possible with what we currently know:
- General guidance provided by other sources may not be accurate for us because UW Medicine entities are public hospitals and clinics. Please follow the guidance provided by UW Medicine rather than advice from other sources.
- If you are approached by an ICE officer, immediately contact the house supervisor and/or the administrator on call of your entity. They will receive updated training on how to address the situation.
- Because many of the areas of our buildings are public spaces, ICE officers can enter public areas such as lobbies and cafeterias. They cannot enter private spaces such as patient rooms and employee rooms/offices without a court-issued judicial warrant or patient consent for patient rooms, or a court-issued judicial warrant or employee consent for employee rooms/offices.
- We have procedures in place for patients to opt out of our hospital directories to maintain
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