Yolanda Redmond has been named Chief Supply Chain Officer for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, effective Nov. 1. She will succeed Chief Supply Chain Officer Teresa Dail, BSN, RN, who will retire from the position at the end of this calendar year after years of service to VUMC.
Dail will continue in her role as President of Vanderbilt Health Supply Chain Solutions and the Vanderbilt Health Purchasing Collaborative, where she leads the effort on behalf of a network of more than 158 hospitals, almost 400 ambulatory surgery centers and more than 5,000 clinics as well as multiple nonacute care facilities nationwide focusing on volume aggregation to drive savings, new service model creation and idea sharing.
“Yolanda Redmond has been an exceptional leader for VUMC starting in Financial Operations and then moving to a broader leadership role in Supply Chain,” said Cecelia Moore, MHA, CPA, Chief Financial Officer of VUMC. “I have the utmost confidence that Yolanda will build and expand on the success of VUMC’s Supply Chain and am so grateful for her willingness to take on this role.”
In her new role, Redmond will oversee VUMC’s $3 billion supply chain operations, which encompass value analysis, contracting, procurement, accounts payable, logistics, receiving, inventory and equipment management across clinical, research and service lines including Environmental Services, Food Services, Linen, Lab and Pharmacy.
“Yolanda brings tremendous depth of knowledge and experience to this role,” said Dail. “She has been a nimble team player who easily navigates the dynamic landscape of supply chain operations and is the right person to take on this department to lead the organization in the upcoming years.”
Redmond comes to the role with a unique background bridging finance and supply chain operations. Before joining VUMC, she worked in the telecommunications industry, supporting financial supply chain operations, and leading enterprise resource planning, inventory system implementations, and transitional services from mergers and acquisitions work.
Since joining VUMC, Redmond has held progressively responsible roles in finance supporting supply chain operations, working closely with Dail’s organization. She has led the disbursements team, purchasing supply chain systems, and sourcing and value analysis teams. Most recently, she played a key role in VUMC’s major transition to Workday.
Redmond sees the role as critical to VUMC’s continued growth, emphasizing the importance of providing excellent customer service, building resiliency and driving innovation. She points to artificial intelligence as one area of particular focus, noting that her team is already using AI to process supplier invoices.
“Supply Chain is more than just operations — we’re a strategic partner within the organization and critical to continued growth,” Redmond said. “I’m looking forward to continuing transformation so we can help drive innovation on the supply side to build sustainable growth.”
The academic medical center environment presents unique complexities, Redmond noted, as supply chain operations must bridge not just typical clinical patient care needs but also research requirements.
Looking ahead, Redmond said complexities within the supply chain area will be an ongoing hurdle that supply chain teams must navigate with agility. “Those are the type of things that supply chain, typically in the past, has not had to deal with but it’s changing the terrain we are working through today,” she said. “It’s about being agile and being able to pivot to do what needs to be done.”
Redmond also emphasized the Supply Chain department’s role as a collaborative partner across VUMC, understanding department needs while maintaining focus on the ultimate goal of patient care. “At the end of the day, what’s most important is being able to care for our patients, and I am grateful to be able to facilitate what VUMC needs to do that,” she said.
Under Dail’s leadership, VUMC’s Supply Chain department has become a nationally recognized operation. In 2018, Dail was named among the top 12 “Women Leaders in Supply Chain” by The Journal of Healthcare Contracting for her work overseeing the institution’s operations and driving product standardization and utilization to reduce total cost of care. In 2024 Gartner recognized VUMC’s Supply Chain department as one of the top 25 in the country.
“I’m so honored to be selected for this role and to build on the foundation laid by Teresa, whose leadership and commitment to excellence has shaped a nationally recognized team,” Redmond said. “I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have been under her leadership and mentoring that she has provided to me and so many others, and I’m looking forward to the journey that is ahead of us.”
The transition period will allow Redmond to work alongside Dail before her retirement, ensuring continuity in VUMC’s supply chain operations and strategic initiatives.
