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TI: And how was it to come back and see your wife after two years? That must have been a happy, happy time for you.

HU: We had a happy... we had to go and buy knives and forks at the fifteen-cent store. [Laughs] But under the GI benefit, I went to another private accounting school for eighteen months. And she worked part-time at the hospital, a nurse's aide. We made ends meet. When the eighteen months was finished, my professor told me, "You know the accounting that you can ever learn, but you learned only half of what you're going to do." He said, "Remember, when you go to work, you go to that place and learn everything you know so you will record those entry in the book correctly." That stuck me, in my head. And I went to employment office, first thing, they sent me to a little hospital on the north side. I learned how hospital operates. Two, three years, I had a call from another hospital in Minneapolis, Northwestern Hospital, one of the most prestigious hospitals. "We'd like for you to come update our accounting system and our cashflow." It was an honor. The most prestigious hospital at that time. I was there about two years. One night I decided to write a story, how hospital operates. The title was... [pauses]... "There's an Urgent Need for Using Good Accounting Principles." Like any other business, and the cashflow. It was about finding the costs to doing lab work or taking the x-ray, keeping statistics, how to prepare operating budget, watch the cashflow, as it's coming in. That was a nice thesis, I thought. Yes, I did that at night. When I had finished that, I sent a copy to American Hospital Association in Chicago. All the hospitals in the United States are members of the American Hospital Association. Every month they published magazine of interest to the hospitals out in the field. My article that I wrote, the thesis, was one of the important article in that magazine. I received many letters, phone calls, from all over the United States. That was extra work, but that's what my dad told me: "You do a little extra work, reward will come." That was the one, and I felt good that people realized what we are behind compared to any other industry. Because during the war, they never expand or build new hospitals, just like they didn't build anymore automobiles. When the GIs started to come back, hospital was full, we had patients out in the hallway, federal government appropriated cash, and they spread around cash to the hospital for building new hospitals, new areas. There was a need for good accounting like any other business. That did very well. And I realized, well, Dad was right.

So one day I got invitation from Kaiser's hospital, you know, Henry J. Kaiser's hospitals? There were four in the San Francisco area. I got an invitation to join Kaiser hospital, a new one coming up in San Francisco proper. I was there about five months operating clinics. Then I had a call from main office, Kaiser's main office in Oakland. "Come in and teach all these accountants that we have in this area." There must have been about twenty-five or thirty accountants who didn't know yet how to prepare a budget or find a price of the service. And I was there about five weeks. It was fun. I hope I helped him.

One night I had a call from an administrator at another hospital in San Francisco. He must have read the thesis. [Laughs] He says, "Harry, we need you. How about coming over here?" I didn't pay attention, I was having a grand time with Kaiser's hospital. And about the third evening, he called again. I didn't want to move. Because when you go into one that is in bad shape, it takes a lot of work, lot of imagination. Third time he called, he said, "This is the last time I'll call, the last call. I want you to come." I agreed. What a terrible situation this hospital is in. Second morning, I went there early, and here runs into my office, chief dietician. "In forty-five minutes, I'm going to deliver (patients') breakfast, creamery didn't send any milk." I said, "Lady, I know we are in trouble. I'll make sure that you get your milk. So I looked at how much we owe, ninety day of milk not paid. No wonder they stopped. So I called the creamery and I begged for the general manager. I said, "We're ready to serve breakfast in forty-five minutes, your truck didn't deliver milk. I'm going to write a check, I'll wait for your truck with the milk. The check will be ready." That's the kind of situation you get into. It's mind-boggling.

TI: And this hospital was in San Francisco? So you went to San Francisco?

HU: Children's hospital. So when I prepared the budget, called in the lady, trustees, and I read the story. I see that we need to close the school for nursing. We've got to phase out those nursing schools. They didn't like that. Furthermore, we've got to discontinue polio cases. And I says, "I have gone through every department. We have more nurses than we need. So is the housekeeping, we've got to reduce. Then we're on the mend." Some of those trustees were taken aback. [Laughs] But it was fun.

TI: And Harry, you did this all as kind of like the, from the accounting perspective? So you really knew the numbers and the budgets and the costs, and so you had a real good knowledge of how hospitals worked through their numbers.

HU: Depending on the patients in that ward, there's a general rule. So much, so many nurses, from there you go on. What is the average patients where we have, we have the staff.

TI: That's good.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.