by Jolene Toves

Guam - In the process of going digital, the Department of Public Health and Social Services lost data for hundreds of Guam births dating back to October 2012.

DPHSS acting director Leo Casil tells KUAM News this was a result of a system crash that occurred earlier this year. The system, which is only a year-old, is primarily used for birth certificates.

Casil says they've since been working with the Guam Memorial Hospital to recover the files as well as the Department of Administration to prevent future system failures.

"We have to get hard copies of that for those that were lose and we work with the hospital on how to coordinate the data to come here so we can re-enter them again into the system. Rebuild it again. It's a tedious process but that's the best way to do it," he said.

Aside from the system crash, Casil says a shortage in staff makes it difficult to handle the vital statistics window at the Mangilao Public Health.

Just this week the agency announced it would limit the amount of customers to 30 in the morning and 30 in the afternoon.

Ideally, Casil says they need seven staff to operate the window, but only have three.

We should note, the window will also be closed on Fridays.