Noble Hospital purging pre-1989 patient records

Date: 9/12/2011

WESTFIELD — Massachusetts state regulations for the retention of medical records has decreased from 30 to 20 years. This means that if the last time a patient visited Noble Hospital was before Dec. 31, 1989, his or her record is scheduled to be destroyed on Nov. 1. 

Patients who would like an abstract of their record or those who have questions may contact the hospital’s Release of Information Coordinator, Julie Perretta, at 572-5156. 

A request may be sent to Noble Hospital, P.O. Box 1634, Westfield, MA 01086-1634, and must include: the date of the request, the patient’s name at the time of the visit, the patient’s current name (if different), his or her date of birth, and signature. Upon receipt of this request, an abstract (face sheet, discharge summary, history, physical, and operative report) of inpatient records will be copied and sent to the patient at no charge, along with three years of outpatient records. There is a minimal charge for additional copies.