Bringing uniform management into view

Senn Soldwedel, Medline Strategic Accounts Executive, SuiteStyles

No matter your clinical role, you’re most likely wearing a uniform. Maybe you were told to get blue scrubs, so your department wears scrubs in a variety of blue shades. Or maybe your facility logo was updated, but your scrubs weren’t. These situations happen because uniform ordering is often fragmented with no one owner. To get control and visibility, you need a single source of truth. We talked to Senn Soldwedel about how a centralized uniform ordering platform can help.

Q: Many large hospital systems feel uniform management is just “part of the job.” Why does it become such a persistent challenge at scale?

A: In multifacility systems, uniforms often fall outside traditional procurement processes. Departments order independently, vendors multiply, and ownership becomes unclear. Over time, leaders lose visibility into who’s ordering what, at what price and for which role. When that happens, you can’t effectively manage spend, enforce standards or plan ahead. Uniforms may seem small individually, but at scale they represent a significant operational and financial blind spot.

Q: How does SuiteStyles address that lack of visibility?

A: SuiteStyles centralizes uniform ordering into one web based platform. Instead of spreadsheets, emails and one-off purchase orders, all activity flows through a single system. That gives supply chain and procurement leaders clear line of sight into ordering behavior, usage patterns and overall spend—by facility, department or role. Once everything is in one place, leaders can finally manage uniforms the same way they manage other strategic categories.

Q: Cost control is a top priority for large systems. Where do you see the biggest financial impact?

A: Visibility is the foundation. Without it, budgeting becomes guesswork. Many organizations don’t even realize how much they’re spending on uniforms—or overspending—because purchases are scattered across vendors and departments. By consolidating orders through SuiteStyles, systems can eliminate rogue purchasing, apply negotiated pricing consistently and budget for the future. Just as important, they streamline manual processes like collecting sizes, correcting errors and tracking deliveries.

Q: Manual work comes up often in conversations about uniforms. Why is it such a burden?

A: Uniform management frequently lands on people who already have full time jobs—nurse managers, residency coordinators or administrators. They’re collecting sizing information, answering questions, fixing mistakes and distributing bulk deliveries. It’s time consuming. SuiteStyles automates many of those steps. Employees order directly from a curated catalog; approvals and allowances are built in; and items can direct-ship straight to employees’ homes. That removes a huge administrative load from hospital staff.

Q: Branding and consistency matter in healthcare. How does a centralized program help there?

A: When multiple vendors are involved, brand standards tend to drift. Logos, colors and embroidery placement can vary, creating uniformity headaches and an inconsistent look across the system. SuiteStyles uses role based catalogs and pre-approved branding, so only the correct styles, colors and embroidery options are available to each employee. That helps bring a consistent, professional appearance across departments and locations, which reinforces trust and clarity for patients and visitors.

Q: Speaking of patients, how do uniforms affect the patient experience?

A: Uniforms play a bigger role than many people realize. Clear, consistent staff appearance helps patients quickly understand who is caring for them and in what capacity. When roles are easy to identify and branding is consistent, it can help support confidence and comfort.

Q: Large systems worry about implementation complexity. How realistic is it to roll something like this out?

A: That concern comes up all the time. The reality is that SuiteStyles is designed to scale. The platform is customizable to each organization’s structure, whether that’s multiple hospitals, clinics or departments. We handle the heavy lifting—from site setup and catalog configuration to support during rollout. The goal is to make adoption feel manageable, not overwhelming, even for very large systems.

Q: How does the employee experience change once a program is in place?

A: Employees move from a frustrating, manual process to a guided, self service experience. They see only what’s approved for their role and get sizing support, reducing back and forth with managers or procurement teams.

Q: What’s the biggest mindset shift you see when organizations adopt SuiteStyles?

A: Uniforms stop being viewed as a nuisance and start being treated as a strategic category. Leaders realize that when you centralize and standardize, you gain control—not just over cost, but over time, compliance and experience. Once everything is visible, it becomes much easier to make informed decisions and continuously improve the program.