News: New Technology Improves Access to Birth Records in Chatham
March 17, 2008
SAVANNAH, GA— Were you born in Atlanta? Valdosta? Fitzgerald or Ellijay? It doesn’t matter where in Georgia you were born, you can now get a copy of your birth certificate at the Chatham County Health Department. Previously, you could only get copies of your birth record from the county where you were born, but new technology is changing the vital records system in Georgia.
The Vital Events Information System, or VEIS, is a new method of entering birth data into a state database. The program was piloted at the Chatham County Health Department last year, and was so successful it is branching out to other counties in the state. Now most local county vital records offices can access birth records for residents of other counties.
In addition to giving residents easier access to their birth records from any Georgia county, the new technology is also speeding up the newborn birth record process. “Before, it took six to eight weeks for the state vital records office to provide counties with copies of birth certificates for us to issue to new parents,” says Myron Burke, administrator of the Chatham County vital records office. “But now, many records are available at the local office a few weeks after birth.”
For now, only birth records are available through the VEIS system. However, the state is working to add fetal death and death records to the system as well.
You can request a copy of a birth certificate from the Chatham County Health Department by mail, over the phone utilizing the Vitalchek system @ (877) 400-4439, or in person by coming to the vital records office at 1395 Eisenhower Drive in Savannah. Call the vital records office at (866) 667-3236 for more information or click here for detailed ordering instructions.
WWW Address: http://www.gachd.org/news/new_technology_improves_access.php