The Washington State Department of Health will launch its new Health Enforcement and Licensing Management System (HELMS) on March 24. This final release adds enforcement functionality and new specialty programs, improving efficiency and data access while reducing paper processes.
All licensing and credentialing systems will be unavailable from 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 18 through the morning of Tuesday, March 24 for data migration and system updates.
If you or your staff have licenses expiring in late March, renew before March 18 to avoid delays.
- No renewals processed March 19–24. Renew early if your renewal date falls during the freeze.
- Finish draft applications before March 18. HELMS deletes drafts inactive for 14 days; log in and view your draft to keep it active.
- No license updates during the freeze. Provider and facility search tools will remain available but will not update until after March 24.
- Search tools will be upgraded with the launch; existing links will continue to work.
For questions before the freeze, contact WABON at [email protected] or 360‑236‑4703.
To preview the new system and learn what to expect, DOH is hosting three open information sessions for health professionals, facility staff, and partner boards/commissions. All sessions share the same agenda and include Q&A. These are not formal trainings.
Agenda
- Overview of HELMS Release 3
- What health professionals and facilities need to know
- Updates to public search tools
- Q&A
Registration required
For more information on HELMS, visit DOH.wa.gov/HELMS. (Megan Herman)