ROCHESTER, N.Y. — There is a serious problem getting vital records in New York. The system is jammed with tens of thousands of applications. News10NBC went to Canandaigua to see a man who is trying to solve a family mystery.
The missing piece is a vital record.
“Well this is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather,” said John Robortella.
His grandfather came to the United States in the early 1900’s. He found a job building the Erie railroad in Orange County, New York. He was killed in a train accident in 1909.
“My grandfather and, we didn’t know it at the time, but his brother was also with him,” he said.
Robortella and his family found a newspaper story on the death of his grandfather. They found the medical examiner’s report. They found records that show he’s buried in Port Jervis, New York. But they can’t find the cemetery where his grandfather is buried.
The answer is likely in his death certificate.
Robortella: “All the historians say the easy part is just order the death certificate.”
Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “And you applied for that when?”
Robortella: “Two years ago. June of 2021.”
Brean pinpointed the same frustration with Mary Holland who applied for birth certificate last November. The wait time went from 60 to 70 business days up to 100 business days. Holland’s wait is now close to 180.
“I’d like to see it before I retire,” Holland said laughing.
VitalChek, the company that helps the state department of health with processing requests for vital records, says it’s received more than 39,289 requests since January 1, 2023 and 50,720 since November, 2022.
The State Department of Health website warns people about “significant delays.”
“If it was a business they would get more help,” Robortella said. “And it’s just a matter of going on microfilm to search for the number and making a copy and emailing it.”
Robortella is a patient man. All he wants is the one document that will tell him and his family where their grandfather is buried.
“Millions of people came to the United States in those days and it’s my grandfather and my father’s father,” he said. “And just to have a memory of him so he’s not forgotten.”
Late Thursday the health department told News10NBC it is in the process of “developing and then implementing a comprehensive plan to modernize the vital records system.” That was part of the answer when I asked the DOH to share a specific thing it’s doing to deal with these delays.
In both Robortella’s and Holland’s cases, they shared receipts that show their application checks were cashed as soon as they arrived.
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