December 17, 2004 Getting a Birth Certificate or Death Record Made EasierOnline requests now accepted for Louisiana Vital Records

BATON ROUGE, Dec 17, 2004 - Getting a birth certificate or death record is now easier than ever thanks to a new online service recently started by the Department of Health and Hospitals’ Vital Records Registry.

The state of Louisiana recently secured a contract with VitalChek, an online service that provides remote ordering of birth certificates and other vital records.  Through this service, customers are able to submit Internet requests for certified copies of Louisiana birth, death and Orleans Parish marriage certificates.  VitalChek service is available at www.vitalchek.com.

“By expanding service options, we are meeting the challenge to be more aware of the needs of the people who rely on us for information,” said LDH Secretary Dr. Fred Cerise.  “DHH has greatly increased accessibility for our citizens and will continue to do so in the future as we tackle the issue of health care reform in our state.”

The demand for certified copies of birth and death records is high, with more than 500,000 individual customer service requests each year.  These documents are needed for many normal and routine occurrences such as enrolling children in school and obtaining Social Security numbers.  They are required to prove citizenship when obtaining passports, to verify the ages of children who participate in sports and to obtain drivers’ licenses. 

To meet the demand, Vital Records recently opened its newest service office in Marrero.  The office, located at 1855 Ames Blvd, has improved Region 1 customer service by providing local service to customers living in Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Charles Parishes. 

With the addition of new Vital Records Service Offices in Thibodaux, Hammond and Marrero this year, LDH has completed providing a regional service office in each of the nine Office of Public Health regions for customers who wish to obtain certified copies of Louisiana birth and death certificates.  Louisiana Vital Records information, including how to obtain records and locations of service offices and mail order information, is available at www.oph.dhh.louisiana.gov .