HCA Healthcare is requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 4.

The company owns three properties in Northwest Florida including West Florida Hospital, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and Twin Cities Hospital.

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center issued Channel 3 the following statement Thursday on behalf of both Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and West Florida Hospital :

To date, HCA Healthcare has encouraged our colleagues to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and made vaccines readily available, but we have not mandated vaccination. To comply with recently issued federal healthcare regulations, we are now requiring our colleagues to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by January 4, 2022. We have plans in place based on processes, best practices and knowledge gained from our operations in states that have already mandated vaccination. Since COVID-19 vaccines became available earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as our infectious disease experts, have been strongly encouraging vaccination as a critical step to protect individuals from the virus and the majority of HCA Healthcare colleagues have already been fully vaccinated. We are working with our colleagues to assist those that have not yet received the vaccine.

Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola issued a vaccine mandate in July. It went into effect Friday -- leading people to protest against the mandate Friday morning.

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All Ascension employees needed to be vaccinated by Friday or risk losing their jobs.