Laura Vaughan
A visitor walks into Vanderbilt University Hospital, as photographed on March 23, 2023. (Hustler Multimedia/Laura Vaughan)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is updating its universal masking requirements and scaling back testing for COVID-19, effective immediately. Patients, visitors and staff are no longer required to wear masks in clinical areas, though individuals may still choose to do so, according to an April 10 press release announcing the change.
Asymptomatic testing is also no longer required for admission to most VUMC hospital units or before a procedure, unless that procedure is a transplant. The policy regarding testing symptomatic patients has not changed, meaning clinicians are required to isolate and test patients who report COVID-19 symptoms.
Since the Vanderbilt Student Health Center is a VUMC clinic, these new policies also went into effect there on April 12, according to a university representative. Additionally, Vault Health, the company administering the university’s COVID-19 tests, recently closed its practice.
“Students visiting the Student Health Center will no longer be required to wear a mask unless they are ill with a respiratory infection. Masking patients with respiratory illnesses is a universal precaution that has been in place for many years,” the university representative said in an April 18 email to The Hustler. “Student Health staff and visitors are welcome to still mask if they prefer, and we ask for respect surrounding others’ choices about masking.”
The representative also said outpatient testing for ill students at Student Health has not changed, as the new policy applied only to hospitalized patients or those undergoing invasive procedures.
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