NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt University Medical Center is requiring its leadership teams to be fully vaccinated by September 15, the first step to requiring all employees at the hospital to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
All employees were alerted July 15 through the hospital’s employee e-newsletter to the plan to require leaders to receive the COVID-19 vaccinations. Leaders notified by Vanderbilt Occupational Health will be required to obtain the first does of an approved vaccine or apply for an exemption by Aug. 15, and to be fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption by Sept. 15.
The deadline for requiring all Vanderbilt University Medical Center employees to be vaccinated or have an approved exemption is under consideration and will be communicated at a later date.
“The highest responsibility of those in leadership roles at VUMC is to protect the safety of patients, coworkers, trainees and students,” VUMC said in a statement. “It is also important for those in leadership roles to be vaccinated to demonstrate VUMC’s overall commitment to promoting vaccination, both within VUMC and in our broader community. For this reason, and before requiring all VUMC employees to be vaccinated, we will first require that VUMC leaders by fully vaccinated.”