YAKIMA -- All employees -- even  those in the billing depart-ment -- at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital will be required to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus when the vaccine becomes available later this month, Valerie Hennessy, assistant vice president of nursing services, said Friday.

Employees can decline based on religious, medical or personal reasons, but they will have to wear a mask if they don't get the shot.

Memorial is not alone in its policy. The Washington State Hospital Association is encouraging all members to require the vaccinations and it's already been a requirement at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.

Memorial employees who get the shot will get a bright green sticker to wear on their identification badge.

"Our staff is going to be sick at the same rate as the community," Hennessy says. "We need employees at work or we can't run the hospital. Every single department is important to keeping the whole hospital running."

According to news reports Friday, the Washington State Nurses Association, a union representing 16,000 registered nurses, filed a federal lawsuit against Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System for implementing a mandatory flu vaccination policy.

"This new policy will force nurses to get the flu vaccination or to wear face masks as a condition of employment and may result in the firing of nurses who do not comply with the policy," the union said in a statement reported by KOMO news in Seattle.

Over at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center, spokeswoman Debra Yergen says: "We are heavily encouraging medical staff to get flu shots, but we are not mandating it."

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.