New Sports Cardiology Clinic Provides Rapid Screening and Clearance Services for Young Athletes

Seattle Children’s Heart Center is expanding its services to better address the needs of young athletes, opening a new Sports Cardiology Clinic in Seattle that provides the only comprehensive pediatric cardiology program on the West Coast dedicated to cardiovascular care for athletes.

The clinic’s medical director, Dr. Jack Salerno, is a nationally known sports cardiologist who has written several national guidelines on return to sports, authored numerous papers and works locally with the Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association (WIAA).

“We opened this clinic because athletes have specific cardiac-care needs that often aren’t met by regular cardiac appointments, both in the types of services we provide and our focus on providing athletes the clinical review and authorization they need to get back to the sport they love as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Salerno. “With sport seasons often only running a few months, it’s critical to provide timely, expert care to these patients so they don’t miss out on the rest of the season if they experience cardiac issues.”

The new clinic is ready to help young athletes seeking care services such as:

• Advanced participation screenings for competitive play or off-season training
• Complex “return-to-play” evaluations following cardiac events like myocarditis 
• Evaluation of potential causes of decreased performance 
• Expedited ECG interpretation and clearance turnarounds 

The Sports Cardiology Clinic experts use a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. They work with a wide range of experts, including electrophysiologists, exercise physiologists, interventional cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, nutritionists, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, sports psychologists and geneticists to provide the most comprehensive and personalized care.

Referring Patients to the New Clinic

The Sports Cardiology Clinic is seeing patients now at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and a second clinic office will open in October 2026 at Seattle Children’s Kirkland Orthopedics location.

To refer patients for Sports Cardiology appointments:

• Visit the Heart Center Refer a Patient page
• On the New Appointment Request Form (NARF) please indicate the patient is an athlete, their current sport/season, weekly training hours, any exercise-induced symptoms and playoff deadlines. This information will help the Heart Center team process the referral within an appropriate scheduling time frame. Fax the NARF to the following number: 206-985-3251.
• Providers can also submit referrals through the EpicCare Link on the Refer a Patient page.

Additionally, providers can send an email directly to the Sports Cardiology team at [email protected] to ask questions and discuss next steps.

Patient families will receive a follow-up call from Seattle Children’s Sports Cardiology team within five to six business days or sooner depending on the medical situation.

As the clinic continues to grow, additional services are planned such as direct scheduling for patients, eConsult opportunities, second-opinion reviews and an exercise performance evaluation pathway to help patients optimize their sports abilities.