SEATTLE – University of Washington Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) has constructed a comprehensive plan to begin bringing its student-athletes back to campus. The phased plan, in accordance with University, King County and Pac-12 guidelines, would see the first group of student-athletes return to Montlake the week of June 15 for voluntary individual workouts.  

"We are so grateful for the support of University, King County and Pac-12 leadership as our team has worked tirelessly to put together this plan," said Director of Athletics, Jennifer Cohen. "We have been advised by some of the top medical experts in the country and we will continue to evaluate our process as we work through this first phase. It's critical for us to be able to provide these resources on campus, as COVID-19 is one of many things that impact the health and well-being of our students. We are eager to take this step to begin to welcome our students back to Montlake."

In a town hall held last week for student-athletes and their families, members of the UW's medical team presented the detailed plan. The following clip shows an in-depth look:

 

"We are very excited to get our student-athletes back on campus, preparing to compete and returning to pursue their dreams both in and out of competition," said Dr. John O'Kane, UW Head Team Physician. "We recognize in the face of this global pandemic; we must proceed cautiously. With this in mind, we have instituted a return to training plan including COVID education, testing, enhanced physical assessment, regular symptom inventory, and an emphasis on social distancing whenever possible."  

The following chart for a phased return was created in consultation with each of the UW's head coaches. 
  Student-athletes who require access to athletic facilities before their team's listed date will be provided access on a case-by-case basis.

"We will reintroduce our training in phases, systematically increasing the numbers of student-athletes training together while continuing to monitor their health, as we work toward return of competition," added O'Kane. "While our current situation is certainly challenging, the goal of our medical staff is the same as always; to provide an opportunity for our student-athletes to get a great education, compete in the sports they love, and to be the best versions of themselves, in as safe an environment as possible." 

The plan has been constructed by ICA's COVID-19 Operations Committee (listed below) with consultation from the Pac-12 Medical Advisory Committee (listed below). The department's COVID-19 Committee, chaired by Associate Athletic Director for Health & Wellness, Robert Scheidegger has spent the last several weeks working closely with campus, local, state and national health experts to assemble a detailed plan. The committee reports weekly to Director of Athletics, Jennifer Cohen, as well as to the department's Executive Staff and Faculty Athletics Representative. 

To adhere to current social distancing guidelines, some modifications have been made to the athletics village, such as moving weight equipment to the concourse of Husky Stadium to provide an open-air environment. Additionally, workouts for all student-athletes will occur in small groups of five or less.

"We are extremely excited to be at a point where we able to provide student-athletes with on-campus services which are critical to their overall health & wellness," said Scheidegger. "Our approach to COVID-19 prevention has been to utilize the world-class expertise right here in our campus community. The framework for our plan consists of guidelines and considerations established by healthcare experts from across the Pac-12 Conference, the University of Washington Campus and UW Medicine and was built in alignment with our state and local health care authorities."

Pac-12 Medical Advisory Committee 

Student-Athlete Health & Well-Being Initiative Board Members
 

Institution	Name	Title
OSU	Doug Aukerman, MD	Chair of Pac-12 SAHWBI Board; Senior Associate Athletic Director, Sports Medicine
COL	Miguel A Rueda	Vice-Chair of Pac-12 SAHWBI Board; Senior Associate AD/Health & Performance
ASU	Kenneth McCarty	Head Athletic Trainer
AZ	Randy Cohen	Assoc. Dir. of Athletics, CATS Medical Services
CAL	Lindsay Houston, MD	Head Team Physician
ORE	Kim Terrell	Senior Associate Director of Athletic Medicine
STAN	Anthony Pass	Director of Athletic Training
UCLA	David McAllister, MD	Head Team Physician, Orthopaedics
USC	Seth Gamradt, MD	Director of Orthopaedic Athletic Medicine
UTAH	David Petron, MD	Head Team Physician
UW	Kim Harmon, MD	Associate Team Physician
WSU	Sunday Henry, MD	Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Dir. of Athletic Medicine

 
Advisors
 

Institution	Name	Role
CAL	John Swartzberg, MD	Clinical Professor Emeritus, Infectious Diseases & Vaccinology
COL	Stephanie Chu, MD	Team Physician; NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports
COL	Sourav Poddar, MD	Chair of Pac-12 Brain Trauma Task Force; Director, Primary Care Sports Medicine; CU Athletics Team Physician and Medical Director
Lane Country Public Health	Patrick Luedtke, MD	Senior Public Health Officer
ORE	Craig Davidson, MD	Physician; Sports Medicine Specialist
OSU	Chunhuei Chi, ScD MPH	Director of the Center for Global Health
OSU	Adam Brady, MD	Samaritan Provider; Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine
Stanford	Bonnie Maldonado, MD	Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Development and Diversity; Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and of Health Research and Policy
UCLA	Daniel Uslan, MD	Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, Division of Infectious Diseases; Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
UCLA	Annabelle De St. Maurice, MD	Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and leads the Pediatric Infection Control and Antibiotic Stewardship Programs
USC	Michael Dube, MD	Professor of Medicine; Associate Medical Director of the Rand Schrader AIDs Clinic; Interim Chief, Infectious Disease
UTAH	Sankar Swaminathan, MD	Infectious Diseases Division Chief
UW	Jon Drezner, MD	Director of the UW Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology; Team Physician for UW, Seattle Seahawks (NFL), and Reign FC (NWSL)
UW	Paul S Pottinger, MD	Professor Department of Medicine; Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases; Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program; Director, UWMC Antimocrobial Stewardship Program

UW COVID-19 Operations Committee Members

Robert Scheidegger: Associate Athletics Director for Health and Wellness/Head Athletic Trainer
Dr. John O'Kane: Medical Director/Head Team Physician 
Jason Butikofer: Chief Operating Officer
Erin O'Connell: Deputy Athletics Director/SWA
Nina Ellen Keaney: Director of Administration 
Tim Socha: Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
Todd Tuetken: Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning 
Jamie Clark: Head Men's Soccer Coach
Jay Hilbrands: Associate Athletic Director for Public Relations