I don't know about old hospital records but lately they seem to be around indefinitely. My experience: I took my son to the ER when he was 19, as I was doing checkin, they said do you still live at ---------? You see, he was born in that hospital in 1976, had NEVER been back again until he ws 19 and they still had the file as current! I was surprised. It may have to do with the computer age but things have changed considerably in that 19 years in computers, from almost non-existant, to the necessary item. Happy hunting. Pam J ---------- From: Michele Wms-Smith[SMTP:wmsmith@ricochet.net] Sent: Thursday, June 11, 1998 1:11 AM To: GenTips-L@rootsweb.com Subject: hospital info thanks everyone for the help. I called Harlem hospital  in new york and after 6 yrs. you need a medical record number from the patient and after 6 yrs there is a great possibility the record could be deleted. ==== GenTips Mailing List ==== Support online research! Donate to the RootsWeb Genealogical Project! See more information at: http://www.rootsweb.com