Gov. Steve Beshear (D)

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) has called on state health officials to review the way in which the state handles reports of abuse and neglect in nursing homes.

Of 107 alleged violations involving the life and safety of nursing home residents filed over a three-year period, only seven were prosecuted as crimes, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, whose reporting prompted the governor’s action. Often, police and local coroners were not alerted to nursing home deaths and injuries, the newspaper found.

Beshear originally was asked by a nursing home residents’ advocacy group to convene a task force to investigate the findings of the Herald-Leader, but he opted instead for a review conducted by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The review was expected to conclude by Sept. 1.