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State Says No Burial Records Exist From Eastern State Hospital

By Brenna Angel

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-953743.mp3

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A central Kentucky historical group has hit a dead end in its quest to find the names of thousands of people buried at Eastern State Hospital in Lexington. A statement Monday from the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental, and Intellectual Disabilities said there is no knowledge that those types of records exist.

"There are records related to patients at Eastern State Hospital, but they're medical records and are protected under federal and state law. We are not aware of any records that could be used to identify specific burials," says Gwenda Bond, a spokewoman for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Phil Tkacz of the Eastern State Hospital Cemetery Preservation Project, disputes the idea that all documentation is gone.

"The last burial was in the mid 50s, so to say there are no records at all, I find that hard to believe that everything just disappeared."

Eastern State Hospital opened in 1824 and the second oldest mental institution in the country. Tkacz says the preservation group will pursue other avenues to gather information, including possibly obtaining a court order to access some old patient files.

A new Eastern State facility is under construction and a new Bluegrass Community and Technical College campus will be built on the old hospital grounds. Human remains were discovered there last month. They could be exhumed in the coming days.