In January 2020, Washington State reported the first positive novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case in the United States. The number of cases in the state has since swelled to over 5,000, with 201 deaths, as of March 31, 2020. Since that first diagnosis and the COVID-19 outbreak that followed at a long-term care facility in a Seattle suburb, the public health departments for Seattle and King County, the Washington State Department of Health, Governor Jay Inslee, and others have been among those leading the US response, working tirelessly to create and implement plans to best serve Washington State residents. The latest data indicate that the state may be slowing the spread of the virus, and on April 5, Governor Inslee announced that the state would return more than 400 ventilators to the national stockpile for use by other states. The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), under the leadership of coauthor Susan Birch, oversees care for 2.5 million Medicaid beneficiaries and public employees and has been an integral part of the state's efforts to combat COVID-19. This article outlines the major initiatives taken and the lessons learned in this intense and historic six-week period.
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