Case notes for Ernest Adkins, Holloway Hospital for the Insane, Surrey England, 1898-1899 via Wikimedia Commons
Hospital records are the documents that relate to a patient while they have been in hospital.[1] An often elusive and hard to access record set, hospital records can offer valuable clues about the lifestyle of an ancestor. However, due to privacy laws in the United States, these records are often not available, even those that were created 50 years ago or earlier. Genealogists often look to substitute sets of records to gather the information needed.
In addition, admission to a hospital for medical treatment was not as prevalent as it is in the 21st century. Most births were still at home through the 1920s, many doctors made house calls, and a person was usually critically ill if they were hospitalized.
An ancestor may have been admitted to the following types of hospitals:
Asylums and mental health hospitals: hospitals for those requiring long-term treatment for mental health issues.
Company hospitals: in "company towns" where mining or manufacturing were prominent, companies established private hospitals and medical plans for their employees and family members.
Military hospitals: military service members were hospitalized during military conflicts and may have convalesced in local military hospitals. In addition veterans retirement homes and hospitals were established for those who served in military conflicts.
Sanitariums and specialized hospitals: Long term convalescence institutions for specific conditions such as tuberculosis.
Admission registers: Details about patients entering the hospital.
Patient case files: Comprehensive medical histories.
Discharge summaries: Information upon leaving the hospital.
Billing records: Bills for services provided by the hospital.
Birth certificates: Some hospitals issued their own birth certificates for parents including details about the baby, the parents, and even a baby's footprints. These were not "official" birth records like vital records maintained by local and county governments.
Psychiatric records: For mental health institutions.
Substitute records
Due to the lack of access and availability of hospital records, researchers should consider using these record sets:
Census records - Population Schedules: Beginning in the late 19th century, up through the 1950 census, United States Federal Census records often listed inhabitants of medical institutions as a group. For some censuses such as the 1940 census, a variety of institutions would be listed towards the end of the population schedules for an enumeration district. It is important to remember that hospital residents - even temporary residents - would not be listed at their home address.
1880 Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Schedule, Smithfield, Pennsylvania via United States Census BureauCensus records - Non-population Schedules: For the United States Federal Census, a series of mortality schedules were created from 1850-1880 to enumerate individuals who had died in the year previous to the census day. These records often listed cause of death and a physician name - clues that could be used for further research. In the 1880 United States Federal Census, a special Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes schedule was enumerated in 1880 listing a variety of individuals with medical issues including residents of hospital, asylums, and other institutions.
Hospital News, Beaver County Times, Beaver Pennsylvania July 24, 1968 via OldNews by MyHeritageNewspaper records: Up until the late 1970s, it was common for local newspapers in the United States to list residents who had been admitted to or discharged from a hospital. Some newspapers dedicated a special column entitled "Hospital News" to the information while others would mention a resident's hospital stay in the "Local News" section.
Accessing hospital records
As mentioned above, access to hospital records may be restricted due to privacy laws. In the United States, current Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996[2] (HIPAA) regulations restrict access to an individuals health records for a period of 50 years.
Contact hospitals and other institutions to see what records are available and how they can be accessed. If records are "under seal" due to a court order, the process of unsealing the records is very expensive and rarely results in records access.
Whether using official hospital records or substitution records, here is the information useful for genealogical research:
Names of patients and family members: First and last name of person hospitalized, and for some records, names of parents, spouses and emergency contacts.
Birth and death information: Besides hospital-issued birth certificates, patient records may include birth information such as height and weight of baby, etc. Death information will include basic vital record information about the decedent plus cause of death and name of attending physician.
Family relationships and F.A.N. Club: Birth records often include the name of one or both parents as well as the attending physician. Patient records including death records might include names of nurses, attendants, and physicians. Look at hospital staff names to see if they are part of the patient or family's F.A.N. Club or social network.
Residence and migration: Review location of hospital to determine patient's residence as well as where they may have traveled.