Frequently Asked Question - Patient Transition

UW Primary Care at Olympia

The last day of clinical operations and appointments with UW Medicine was Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, and the clinic reopened as MultiCare Family Medicine – Olympia on Jan. 4, 2021.

Eunice Chen, MD, is transferring to the UW Medicine Primary Care – Federal Way Clinic to serve as the clinic chief.

Patients should call 360.252.3890 to schedule an appointment at MultiCare Family Medicine – Olympia.

Call 360.252.3890 and ask the scheduler to help you find a new PCP who is a good match for your needs.

Until you can establish care with MultiCare Family Medicine –¬ Olympia, you can schedule a telemedicine visit with your UW Medicine primary care provider via eCare or by calling 360.507.9100.

The nearest MuliCare locations include:

If you are following Dr. Chen to Federal Way, please either send an appointment request in MyChart or call 360.507.9100 and let the scheduler know that you need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Chen at the Federal Way Clinic.

If you 'd like to select a new UW Medicine primary care provider, please visit our website uwmedicine.org/primarycare to review provider bios, select someone who seems like a good match for your needs, and use the “Book online
appointment” option.

Whether you stay with a UW Medicine provider at one of the UW Medicine locations or transfer care to a MultiCare Family Medicine – Olympia provider, telemedicine is offered by both organizations as long as your provider feels the reason for your visit is one that can be addressed without seeing you in person.

Yes, because MultiCare is a separate health system from UW Medicine, you will need to complete a full registration with them to establish care with one of their providers.

However, if you are an existing patient of MultiCare, your information may be on file. If you have been seen in one of the specialty clinics or at a hospital, your information may already be available, and a full registration may not be necessary.

MultiCare accepts most large insurance plans and most likely will accept your coverage. For more information, please visit https://www.multicare.org/health-insurance or contact your insurance provider directly. Also, many plans require that you update information on your Primary Care Provider and/or where you get your care for your visit to be covered, so this is another good reason to check first!

We are also doing our best to identify insurance plans accepted by UW Medicine, but not by MultiCare. We are reaching out to patients with these plans directly to let them know they may have a non-contracted plan.

In most cases, the answer is no. If you stay with UW Medicine (even if you change providers), your complete medical record will continue to be available to your care team. If you choose to establish care with a MultiCare provider at MultiCare Family Medicine – Olympia, your provider will be able to access information from your UW Medicine record electronically since both organizations use the same Electronic Health Record (Epic).

If you choose to transfer care to another organization, you will need to request that records are sent to your new provider, and you can do that by visiting us online at https://uwmedicine.org/medical-records.

Yes. Whether or not you choose to stay with UW Medicine, you will be able to continue to access your health information via MyChart. However, we will only be able to assist with questions and requests if you remain a UW patient and establish care at a new clinic.


MultiCare also has a patient portal, and if you choose to establish care with them, you will be able to use that portal to interact with your new care team. You can learn more about the patient portal functionality at MultiCare at https://www.multicare.org/patient-portal.

Patients belonging to the UW Medicine clinic and the UW Seattle courtesy lab draw patients can use the LabsNW Olympia lab, located a block away, for collection during the interim and closure if they have a valid lab order. LabsNW has paper requisition for providers to complete and give to patients. The lab location, address, and hours are listed below.

LabsNW Olympia
3504 12th Ave NE
Olympia, WA 98506
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon. – Fri.
360.252.3824

If your provider is staying with UW Medicine, you can either send a request in MyChart or contact your provider by calling 360.507.9100.

If your provider is joining MultiCare Family Medicine – Olympia, you should schedule an appointment to establish care at the new clinic. We will provide information regarding how to schedule an appointment as soon as we receive it from MultiCare.

If you would like to keep your care with UW Medicine but plan to transfer to a new Primary Care Provider, we strongly recommend that you establish care as soon as possible so your requests can be managed and coordinated with your new care team. To ensure that we are providing the safest and highest quality care possible, the UW Medicine Primary Care will not be able to provide ongoing assistance with these types of requests until you have re-established care with a new Primary Care Provider.