Vanderbilt University Medical Center will become the first hospital system in the region to require COVID vaccination of employees, starting with those in leadership roles.

A recent message to the 25,000-person workforce says 72% of employees are fully vaccinated as of mid-July. The figure rises to 92% among the leaders, who are now being required to get their shots as a condition of employment.

“The highest responsibility of those in leadership roles at VUMC is to protect the safety of patients, coworkers, trainees and students,” the letter obtained by WPLN News says. “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.”

Employees who qualify as “leaders” are being contacted now and required to get their first dose by Aug. 15 or have a religious or medical exemption approved by then. The requirement applies even to those who have remote work or jobs that do not interact with patients.

The rest of the workforce is also expected to take the COVID vaccine, though a deadline has not been set.

Tennessee hospitals fought off a bill in the state legislature that would have banned employers from requiring COVID vaccination. At the time in May, no hospitals in the state had yet declared their intent for a mandate, but a few around the country were already making announcements.

The two other large health systems in Nashville — TriStar Health and Ascension Saint Thomas — have not yet announced plans to require COVID vaccinations. But more hospitals are making mandates, now that a federal court has thrown out a lawsuit from more than 100 nurses at Houston Methodist who challenged the hospitals mandate as “coercion.”

“This is not coercion,” the judge wrote in June. “Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the COVID-19 virus. It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safer.”