The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) seeks to digitize and automate their current paper-based records keeping processes to make data across all offices more accessible and interoperable. The existing paper-based processes make it challenging to react and respond to real-time data inflow, which greatly increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and they increase the manual effort in record storage and retrieval that results in department inefficiencies. Additionally, the physical space necessary to house the department’s records is significant and constantly increasing – an issue for a department with resource and space constraints. Digitizing and automating processes that are currently paper-based enables employees to work effectively while remote, allowing departments to adhere to distancing guidelines to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and supporting employees who need to perform caretaker duties or are shielding to protect themselves and their families from COVID-19. Digitizing paper records, automating record keeping processes, and destroying physical records will all contribute to making VDH a more efficient and agile department, allowing it to better serve Virginia residents and better respond to future public health crises.