Well, as I was gearing up to come to Syracuse, making sure that I had my immunization record complete and up to date. I ran into something that struck me as odd.
I needed a copy of my immunizations from birth up through say age twenty. This was necessary because my primary physician, who was at the time in IL, did not have this information on file. I guess this was my fault, but I hadn't needed an immunization record since I had been an incoming freshman (undergraduate). And even at that time, my mother had taken care to send the information to the school I had attended.
Since I've seen my childhood physician, who used to practice in LA (now he's too old, probably dead), I've gotten married, had three children, had several jobs, and I've obtained a Master's degree (without needing a record of immunizations). That's been over a period of about twenty years.
Anyhow, as I gathered the paper work, I called my old doctor's office in LA:
Office person: Good afternoon, Dr. X and X's office. How can I help you?
Me: Hi, I used to be a patient of Dr. X, and I know that Dr. X has taken over his patient records. My last name was Thompson. Is it possible to get a copy of my medical records? I'm particularly interested in getting a copy of my immunizations.
Office person: Well, we should have that on file. What was your name?
Okay. Please hold.
. . .
Office person: Dr. X says that Dr. X's patient files are archived in a database that's no longer in this office. Can we call you back after we've gone to storage to retrieve your files?
Me: Sure, that's not a problem. You may reach me at 630....
. . . (2 days later)
Office person: Hello, Mrs. Jefferson.
Me: This is she.
Office person: Dr. X says that your records are no longer available.
Me: What's wrong? You told me two days ago that you needed to retrieve the records from the database.
Office person: Well, your files were deleted from the system.
Me: What! Well, why didn't you tell me that when I called. You mean to tell me you have no record? I have no medical history? You destroyed the files! There must be some mistake.
Office person: Well, Mrs. Jefferson. There's nothing more we can do on this end…
Now, what do you make of that? I felt utterly invisible. I immediately thought--poor slavery records (not kept, destroyed); same with medical records (not kept; destroyed). I thought, with technology being what it is today, they really could have archived those records. What the hell! is wrong with people. They really don't care about the well-being of other folk.
I hope that all doctor's offices don't practice erasure of medical records. I hope that somehow they've caught up with technology and archived, if nothing else, the immunizations.
To make this long story even shorter, I called the university where I received my undergraduate degree, and they had a copy of my immunizations on file. They faxed them to me. I was relieved and amazed at the same time.
