HIV testing in Washington — where to get tested, free options, what to expect
The number
440 new HIV diagnoses in Washington in 2022, 26% among Black residents — all preventable with timely testing and linkage to PrEP.
Ryan White Part B
Washington State Department of Health, Office of Infectious Disease
State ADAP
Washington Early Intervention Program (Apple Health for HIV)
Income cap 500% FPL
State PrEP-DAP
Washington PrEP Drug Assistance Program (PrEP DAP)
Where to get tested in Washington
16,000 people are living with HIV in Washington, and 26% of new diagnoses in 2022 were among Black residents. Getting tested is the first step — the CDC recommends at least one HIV test for every adult 13-64, and annual testing for anyone sexually active with more than one partner or injecting drugs. Rapid tests return results in about 20 minutes from a fingerstick; laboratory tests take a few days but catch infections sooner after exposure (as early as 10 days with a nucleic-acid test).
Where to test for free in Washington: every county health department runs an STI / HIV testing clinic, and Washington State Department of Health, Office of Infectious Disease contracts with community-based organizations to operate walk-in rapid testing with evening and Saturday hours. No ID or insurance is required at these sites. Confidentiality is protected — state law requires public-health HIV testing results to stay out of your medical record unless you authorize release, and anonymous testing (no name collected) is available at most community sites.
What to expect: a pre-test conversation about risk and what a positive result would mean, the test itself (either fingerstick or blood draw), and post-test counseling. If the rapid test is reactive, the counselor draws blood for a confirmatory Western blot or antigen/antibody test. If you're positive, you'll be linked to a Ryan White Part C clinic for same-week HIV primary care and ADAP enrollment if you qualify by income.
The Washington HIV info line is 1-360-236-3460; staff can point you to the nearest free testing site, schedule PrEP, and help you navigate insurance or no-insurance options. Long-time Black residents name Madison Clinic at Harborview Medical Center and Entre Hermanos as the local institutions that show up consistently — both are listed below.
Madison Clinic at Harborview Medical Center. The Madison Clinic at Harborview in Seattle is Washington's largest Ryan White Part C grantee, serving about 2,800 people living with HIV; Madison co-hosts the Fred Hutchinson AIDS Malignancy Consortium and the University of Washington CFAR implementation science core.
Entre Hermanos. Entre Hermanos in Seattle is Washington's Latino-LGBTQ+-led HIV service organization, operating the only Spanish-language-primary rapid-testing program in the Pacific Northwest and the Promotores de Salud peer-navigation network across King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
For Black families in Washington
In Washington, 26% of new 2022 HIV diagnoses were among Black residents. That figure reflects unequal access to testing more than underlying risk: a Black person in Washington waits longer for an HIV diagnosis on average than a white peer, and late diagnoses translate directly into later treatment starts and worse outcomes. The community organizations listed below — particularly those flagged as Black-community anchors on the directory — operate rapid-testing sites specifically designed to close that wait-time gap.
Named HIV testing + PrEP sites in Washington
Madison Clinic — Harborview Medical Center
Seattle, WA • 1-206-744-5107
Entre Hermanos — Seattle
Seattle, WA • 1-206-322-7700
Lifelong — Seattle
Seattle, WA • 1-206-957-1600
Public Health — Seattle & King County — Capitol Hill STI & HIV Clinic
Seattle, WA • 1-206-744-3590
Where to get help in Washington
- Washington HIV info line: 1-360-236-3460 — staff can find the nearest free testing site, schedule PrEP, or help enroll you in ADAP.
- Washington State Department of Health, Office of Infectious Disease landing page: https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/illness-and-disease-z/hiv.
- Federally Qualified Health Centers in Washington: every FQHC offers sliding-scale HIV testing and has certified application counselors on staff. See our FQHC directory for the state at /clinics/wa/.
- State health data for Washington: for state-level HIV mortality, maternal health, and life-expectancy context by race, see /health/washington/.
- Washington Medicaid: Medicaid is the largest single payer of HIV care in most states. See /medicaid/washington/ for eligibility + enrollment.
- CDC NPIN testing-site finder: gettested.cdc.gov accepts a zip code and returns every free + low-cost HIV testing site within 50 miles.
References & primary sources
- Washington State Department of Health, Office of Infectious Disease: https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/illness-and-disease-z/hiv.
- CDC HIV Surveillance Report 2022: cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html. Source for state-level new diagnoses and race-stratified counts.
- HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantee list: ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/grants/part-b.
- NASTAD ADAP Monitoring Project 2024 Annual Report: nastad.org/adap-monitoring-project. Source for ADAP income cap + enrollment + PrEP-DAP data.
- AIDSVu state profile: aidsvu.org/state/washington/.
Data refreshed: