By Kathy Whitney

Sandy Bledsoe, RN, BSN, ARM, MA, Vice President, Risk and Insurance Management for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, will be stepping down from her role in January 2024.

Bledsoe began working at Vanderbilt in 1984 as a clinical risk manager. In 2011 she was named the assistant vice chancellor for Risk and Insurance Management for Vanderbilt University and in 2016 was named Vice President, Risk and Insurance Management for VUMC.

“It’s hard for me to overstate the positive impact Sandy has had on VUMC and the patients we serve, and I have learned so much through working with her,” said Michael Regier, JD, VUMC general counsel and secretary. “Her work puts her in the middle of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, and her commitment to doing the right thing for our patients and our staff is at the core of all she has accomplished here.”

The Office of Risk and Insurance Management supports the Medical Center’s missions through risk financing, risk prevention and risk control activities by taking responsibility for finding solutions to problems or complaints for all those seeking services at VUMC and continuously evaluating and improving the Medical Center’s performance.

“I am thankful every day for the opportunity I have had to be part of the Vanderbilt community,” Bledsoe said. “I have been privileged to support our faculty and staff as they go through stressful and challenging times. It has also been my privilege to engage with patients and families who feel they have not had an optimal experience with us and to try to make things right.

“Risk management at its best gives an organization the freedom to carry out its mission, and I hope I have been able to do that.”

Bledsoe’s contributions include developing and maintaining strong relationships with those outside of VUMC with whom risk managers need to interact, such as insurance underwriters and attorneys, and in doing so has bolstered VUMC’s reputation for fairness, honesty and continuous quality improvement.

“From the top all the way through the organization, there is a sense of wanting to do the right thing. That shared value has made my job so much easier. VUMC is filled with intelligent, hardworking, collaborative people who, all together, make this such a great place to work,” Bledsoe said. “My team supports the mission  and work well together to provide fantastic service to VUMC, its patients and its staff every day. Leading them has been a joy.”

Bledsoe will continue to work through the transition while her successor is named and will remain in a part-time role. She said she is looking forward to traveling, developing some latent hobbies, and doing more volunteer work.