State Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, filed a bill Tuesday that would require criminal background checks for all employees of nursing homes.

Currently, the state requires such checks for nursing home and assisted living employees who care directly for residents, but not for staff such as custodians, maintenance and food service workers.

Bernie Vonderheide, founder of Kentuckians For Nursing Home Reform, said it doesn't make sense to conduct criminal background checks only on direct-care workers.

"All employees in an average nursing facility have easy access to every patient," he said.

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