Staff shortage at records office causes delay in accessing medical records for local soldiers

A staff shortage in the records office used by soldiers trying to access their medical records has created a backlog.

William Beaumont Army Medical Center Commander Col. Michael S. Heimall said the records office has “about a thousand requests for medical records backlogged.”

The records office is especially necessary for active duty service members transitioning into retirement.

In order to file a claim with Veterans Affairs, they must produce their medical records.

At a recent town hall meeting with Congressman Beto O’Rourke, one man said it had taken his wife four months after she requested her medical records to receive them and was concerned the same would happen to him.

Heimall said the delays stem from sequestration.

“It’s an area that had been neglected from a staffing standpoint during sequestration in 2013, we had a hiring freeze. Every position that we hired here had to have approval from army medical command,” Heimall said. “Lower back office operations were not necessarily approved or approved in a timely fashion and this is one of those areas where we lost a couple of staff and we have not been able to replace them as fast as we wanted to.”

The Army in November gave Heimall the green light to hire two people to fill the void in the records office and he now has an ambitious goal. “The goal I’ve set is that by March 1, I want to make sure that everyone is able to get their records within 30 days of requesting them.”

Heimall said the man who spoke at the town hall meeting received his records within 22 days, which he believes is evidence the office is making progress.