How can I get access to my deceased mother's medical records?

Who was the estate executor. Such a person may be able to get them. However, if there was not probate of an estate, this might not be possible.

You can ask the Surrogate's Court to appoint you the administrator of your mother's estate. As the administrator of her estate, you will be able to request the medical records. The problems are that A) It will cost you quite a lot of money expect the hospital to charge you about $80 for each page of the record (and no, they will not allow you to review the record and select the pages you want them to copy; so you will pay for every useless scrap of paper in the file) and B) If the hospital knows that there is something in that record that might give you grounds for a lawsuit, it will deny your request and/or do everything in it's power to delay producing the record until the statute of limitations runs and the legal action becomes impossible.

You have to go to Probate Court and be appointed as the personal representative or the conservator of the estate. There will be paperwork issued by the court that gives you permission to get the records, and then you can sign the request for records and submit them along with a copy of the court paperwork.

Ask the court to appoint you her personal representative (of her estate) tell them you are investigating a possible wrongful death action.

Without opening an estate, which I think is what you are asking, the best way is to contact the hospital and see what they'll take. Otherwise, you will have to open an estate in Probate and get appointed to be in charge of the estate. Good luck.

You have to be appointed as the fiduciary of her estate. If she had a will, you need to be appointed Executor, if she did not, that role is called Administrator. Either way, the term "fiduciary" is used. In NY, this appointment is made by the Surrogate's Court. Once you are appointed, you can contact the hospital to get the records. If they refuse, you may be able to get a court order.