GOSHEN – A northern Indiana hospital has fired eight employees who refused to get flu shots the hospital said are needed to protect patients from the potentially deadly illness.

IU Health Goshen Hospital officials told its staff in September that flu shots would no longer be optional for staff, affiliated physicians, volunteers and vendors.

Hospital spokeswoman Melanie McDonald told The Elkhart Truth (http://bit.ly/ZQnzxP) the new requirements came as a recommendation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association and other major health agencies.

McDonald said the flu has the highest death rate of any vaccine-preventable disease. She said the hospital would be irresponsible to ignore the fact that patients with compromised immune systems are at a greater risk for illness and death from the flu.