I understand that many members of our community are concerned about unprecedented federal policy shifts. I share your concerns. Let me be clear about our position: UW Medicine remains steadfast in its commitment to improve the health of the public and to create an environment in which everyone feels they belong and are valued. Our dedication to providing equitable healthcare isn’t just a statement — it is embedded in everything we do, whether research, teaching or clinical care.
I appreciate the comments and questions many of you have submitted regarding the federal policies. Please continue to submit to this form as it allows us to be responsive to the predominate concerns of our community. Based on your submissions, I wanted to provide an update in the following key areas:
- Federal Freeze of Funds: On Jan. 31, 2025, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on freezing federal funds, and on Feb. 10, 2025, the same judge rebuked the administration for not following his order. We are starting to see funds flow at this time and will be closely monitoring this situation.
- Stop Work Orders/Suspensions for Grants and Contracts: Research colleagues: Please continue to work with your departmental research administration staff to submit a Modification in Sage for any projects that receive stop work orders or suspensions, within 24 hours of receipt. Please also email osp@uw.edu with the Award Modification number and copy rgeadmin@uw.edu for SOM tracking.
- Proposal to Reduce National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding: On Feb. 7, 2025, the administration announced an across the board cut to cap indirect costs at 15% for NIH grants. In response, on Feb. 10, 2025, nearly two dozen states, including Washington state, sued the administration to block implementation and on Feb. 10, a federal judge issued a TRO to block implementation of this reduction. A hearing will take place Feb. 21, 2025. Until we receive more information or provide further notice, please prepare grant applications to NIH using currently negotiated UW rates.
- Temporary Hiring Freeze: Despite the TROs, the future of federal funding that supports much of our work remains unclear. Given this uncertainty, we are implementing a temporary hiring freeze for School of Medicine academic personnel, faculty, and staff not engaged in direct clinical care activities while implementing additional review for faculty hires with direct clinical care activities.
- Status of Gender-Affirming Care (GAC): Lawsuits have been filed to address the administration’s attempt to deny federal funding from hospitals that provide GAC to patients under the age of 19. We remain committed to providing clinical care to our patients and continue to provide our full spectrum of care.
- ICE: Please consult this FAQ for information on what to do if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers enter our hospitals and clinics. If you are approached by an ICE officer in a UW or UW Medicine space other than our hospitals and clinics, please contact UWPD via dialing 911 and notifying your supervisor.
I understand that you may have questions that we do not have answers for at this time. As a public institution, we are navigating a new and dynamic landscape and need to be both adaptive and responsible in our approach. Know that UW Medicine leaders are deeply engaged in these compounding issues and working closely with UW leadership, the Attorney General’s office and others.
I am committed to providing our community with a weekly email of relevant updates. We are also looking into scheduling a UW Medicine Town Hall dedicated to this topic. Please also remember to check the UW Medicine Federal Policy Updates site for updates in real time. In addition, you may want to reference UW President Ana Mari Cauce’s latest blog post on protecting UW research.
Thank you for all that you do to support our mission of improving the health of the public for all people, and thank you for continuing to support one another.
Sincerely,
Timothy H. Dellit, MD (He, Him, His)
CEO, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
