Safety under pressure: Three priorities for 2026

Safety planning can’t sit off to the side anymore. Andrea Greco, senior vice president of healthcare sales at CENTEGIX, lays out three themes she believes should guide health care leaders in 2026.

First, she says, safety has to be workforce-centric and tied directly to core business goals such as retention and profitability. That means choosing solutions staff will actually adopt, not just checking a box with a location-tracking tool they do not want to wear.

Second, leaders should expect a clear return on investment (ROI). Greco describes how ROI tools can quantify the cost of inaction and show whether safety investments are improving financial performance, from fewer incidents and injuries to lower turnover and training costs.

Third, she points to a growing wave of accountability. High-profile attacks on health care workers are driving new legislation, including federal proposals such as the SAVE Act and state efforts that would require staff to wear duress buttons. Those measures, she says, are pushing organizations beyond paper plans toward real protections and faster responses when something goes wrong.

Her message for practices and health systems: Treat safety as a workforce strategy, measure the impact and be ready for rising expectations from regulators, staff and the public.