By AP
Frankfort, KY – Kentucky Nursing Homes face an overhaul of the system they have to report deaths, under proposed legislation from Louisville Representative Tom Burch. Burch has pre-filed a bill that would require all deaths at long-term care facilities to be reported to the county coroner. Current law doesn't require reporting most of those deaths to a coroner. The proposal would also require coroners to tell police or prosecutors if maltreatment is suspected. Burch tells the Lexington Herald-Leader the proposal is intended to give coroners discretion in choosing which deaths need further review. The proposal comes after a series of Herald-Leader articles on gaps in the system used to investigate nursing home abuse.