UW Medicine Reopens 2 COVID Testing Locations

SAMMAMISH, WA — UW Medicine is accepting appointments again for its testing locations at Lake Sammamish State Park and in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, roughly a month after temporarily closing them near the peak of the omicron surge. The reopened sites should offer patients faster access to their results.

"We have more open spots available, and we actually are opening back up our Ballard and our Sammamish sites as well, so that we can provide more convenient options for people to come in and get tested," said Dr. Patrick Mathias, vice chair of clinical operations at UW Medicine. "We added some additional capacity through testing partners with Altius and Northwest Pathology Labs that are helping out with whenever we have issues with receiving more samples than we can test on a given day. We are sending some samples to those labs as well to help us out, and that will help us maintain good turnaround times."

UW Medicine said its goal is to get everyone their results within a day, and all 15 sites will continue to prioritize people with symptoms or close contact with someone who tested positive. While state and federal programs have increased access to antigen tests, Mathias said he hoped easier access to PCR testing would connect people with the most accurate results, especially if they have symptoms but have not tested positive at home.

"That's your best option to getting accurate answers, [is] to get a PCR test," he said. "I hope that we can provide enough appointments in enough spots for people to come in and get tested."

Residents can book appointments on UW Medicine's website.