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January 2021

• BIRTH News
• DEATH News
• COUNTY News
• Stay informed about COVID-19:

Welcoming a New Year!

Welcome to a new year of monthly newsletters from the Center for Health Statistics (CHS), Vital Records office. You will find that it is filled with information that is important for you and your facility like OVERS changes, updates to Oregon laws, statistics, available reports, and process reminders. In the table of contents on the left, click on any category of news to jump to articles of interest.

Have a newsletter article idea? We would love to hear from you regarding future newsletter topics.

OVERS New Modern Look Reminder

In January a new modern look will be introduced for OVERS. This new look will include icons next to menu selections as well as new spacing that will make your display easier to read. More information about this new look can be found in our December newsletter located here.

Vital Record Office Closed to the Public

The Oregon Vital Records Office has been closed to the public and will remain closed until further notice. Customers still have the ability to order Vital Records by;

• USPS mail by going to our website at www.healthoregon.org/CHS to download a vital record order form.
• Online at www.vitalchek.com or by calling 888-896-4988 24/7 hours a day.

Update to Acceptance of Expired ID’s

The Center for Health Statistics recently received updated information on the acceptance of expired Oregon driver licenses and IDs. DMV offices have been opened since early June; but access to the field offices has been limited to abide by social distancing and other public health protocols. This limited access has made it challenging for individuals to renew or replace their driver license or ID prior to their expiration.

The new guidance for accepting expired licenses for issuing vital records is as follows;

• Oregon driver license or ID cards that expired between March 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020 should no longer be accepted as identification for issuing vital records. Other forms of identification will be needed.
• Oregon driver license or ID cards that expired between November 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021 and that have been expired for less than three months can be accepted as ID for issuing vital records. If the expiration date is more than three months passed, the license or ID cannot be used for issuance. Other forms of valid id will be required. Acceptable proofs of identity can be found here.

Here is a handy matrix to use to quickly determine if the identification can be accepted. 

BIRTH News

Notify OVERS When Users Leave

When an employee leaves your facility, it is important to notify OVERS in a timely manner to ensure the employee no longer has access to OVERS or your facility's birth records.

It is necessary for the Center for Health Statistics to maintain the most up to date list of current users accessing the system. Vital records are confidential documents that attest to individual identity. Employees that no longer work for your facility cannot have access to OVERS which has these restricted records. When the accounts of previous employees are disabled, those old users are also removed from email lists which CHS uses to communicate to partners.

It is the responsibility of managers or facility administrators to notify the OVERS help desk by sending a letter on company letterhead that the employee has left. Once this letter is received, the employee will be end dated and will no longer have access to your facility records. The letter should include the name of the employee and the date of termination. Letters should be faxed to (971) 673-1201.

Contact the OVERS Help Desk at (971) 673-0279 with any questions about this process.

DEATH News

Abandoning a Death Record – Funeral Homes

If a duplicate record has been created in error, the incorrect or duplicate record needs to be abandoned. Duplicate records can cause confusion for medical certifiers trying to certify electronically resulting in delayed registration.

To have the incorrect or duplicate record abandoned, please call the OVERS Help Desk at (971) 673-0279.

You will need to provide both Case ID numbers - the one you want to keep and the one needing to be abandoned. You will be asked for the reason you are requesting abandonment. Providing both Case IDs ensures that a record that has already been medically certified does not get abandoned in error.

If you should get the OVERS Help Desk voicemail greeting and want to leave a voicemail message, please provide the information above in your message, as well as your name, title and facility and whether you would like a call back once the abandonment has been completed.

COUNTY News

Connecting to the Right Unit for Your Questions

To improve response time regarding your registration, amendment or issuance questions, we are providing an abbreviated reference guide with email addresses for the different units in the Center for Health Statistics.

If you are contacting the Center for Health Statistics for your Spanish-speaking families, rest assured there are Spanish speakers within the Center for Health Statistics. Your email will be directed to a Spanish speaking employee to respond.

For help with amending or changing a record, please email CHS.Amendments@dhsoha.state.or.us.

For help with registration of a record, please call Megan Welter at (971) 673-1151 or email megan.l.welter@dhsoha.state.or.us.

For help with Security paper (intaglio paper) assigning, ordering or voiding paper, please email CHS.VitalRecords@dhsoha.state.or.us.

For questions about vital statistics or data use agreements, please email CHS.Statistics@dhsoha.state.or.us.

For county questions regarding eligibility for receiving a record, explanations on laws, rules, processes and procedures please call Caroline Zanot at (971) 673-1166 or (503) 983-8011.

For help with OVERS technical issues, please call the OVERS Help Desk at (971) 673-0279.

We appreciate our County Partners and want to do everything we can to help make requesting assistance as easy as possible. Thank you for everything you do!

Stay informed about COVID-19:

Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority leads the state response.

United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.

Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response.

CHS Website

VitalChek Orders Hotline:
888-896-4988

VitalChek Order online: www.vitalchek.com

General Information: 971-673-1190

FAX: 971-673-1201

TTY: 711

For technical support, contact:
OVERS Help Desk: 971-673-0279