Freedom of Information Act is what counters the Privacy Act and HIPPA. At the same time, because of Privacy Act and HIPPA, the company/hospital or whatever will only tell you what they want you to know. When I checked into my Uncle in Oklahoma, he was hospitalized at a defunked hospital in Ft Supply. The archives were still there and his information was in the archives. Checking into the hospital, it was a "sanitarium" for a specific disease which is now curable (through, of all things, vitamin therapy). The archivists told me his disease and that he had died there in the hospital and was buried on the grounds. It helps for the person to already be deceased. You get more info that way. Jeff Carr of TX