The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memorandum that reinforces the agency’s role in enforcing regulatory expectations that patients and hospital staff have an environment that prioritizes their safety to ensure effective delivery of health care. An April 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics Fact Sheet found that health care workers accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence in 2018. This percentage has been growing steadily since tracking of these specific events began in 2011.

The memorandum can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-23-04-hospitals.pdf.