Medical-Archives-Booklet

THE ASSOCIATION OF CANADIAN ARCHIVISTSGym - Rehab & Physical Medicine, Toronto General Hospital, Gerard Wing., ca. 1958.(University Health Network Archives, Toronto, Acc. 0030, P1-13)treatment of the patient, but they may also be used in:the continuing care of the patient:• as a source of epidemiological information to healthresearchers• as a source of legal documentation in litigation• as a source of administrative data for long-range planning(e.g. to follow trends in treatment; to determinedcosts, staffing requirements, etc.)The second type of hospital documentation, corporate records,do not usually receive the same care and attention as patientinformation. Although a large percentage of these records (up to95%) are of short-term value, the remainder can be very important.Minutes of the Board of Directors or Trustees may berequired for the hospital accreditation process; personnel recordsare used to ensure that employee rights are protected (e.g. forpension eligibility); and financial records are used in budgetpreparation. Annual reports provide a concise look at the developmentof the institution. Any of these records may be calledinto use during litigation. These records can also be used as thebasis for a history of a hospital’s origins, life, and culture, andcan greatly contribute to the study of the history of medicine.8