Other
Badenhausen, George (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview was conducted at Badenhausen's home. Another former employee of the Harriman Jones Clinic, Virginia Davis, was also present. 6/11/1984
- Date
- 2020-10-26
- Resource Type
- Creator
- Campus
- Keywords
- Handle
- Language
- Notes
- SUBJECT BIO - George Badenhausen was the administrator of the Harriman Jones Clinic and Hospital in Long Beach. He was involved in significant changes in the development of medical care and health insurance. Badenhausen came to Long Beach in 1934 having worked at hospitals in the middle west. Here he soon went to work for Harriman Jones in a building that had been designed by local architect Kenneth Wing to the specifications of Dr. Harriman Jones. The clinic opened in 1930 and every aspect of it was planned to provide first rate medical care to patients who visited the clinic or stayed in the hospital. By 1964, Harriman Jones had determined that , in their 50 be hospital, they could not provide the range of services found in large hospitals. So they closed the hospital, transferred the staff to Long Beach Community Hospital, and converted the hospital space into an enlarged clinic. In 1972, the clinic moved from its original building into a larger one to accommodate its growing list of patients. In this single interview, Badenhausen also talks about serving on several planning and coordinating boards that established regulations and priorities for hospitals in the local area and activities as a member of the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce. TOPICS - Topics on this side of tape include: family background; education; vacation in Long Beach; employment; Harriman Jones Clinic; Depression and Blue CrossTopics on this side of tape include: Harriman Jones Clinic and Hospital; setting standards for hospitals; closing Harriman Jones Hospital and Blue CrossTopics on this side of tape include: Association of California Hospitals; Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce; Dr; Harriman Jones and El Rodeo Club
- *** File: cbgbadenhausen1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-1:45)... Brief Introduction Badenhausen was born in Salt Lake City where his father worked as an engineer on the railroad. He first came to Long Beach in 1934 on vacation. At the time he was working at a Chicago area hospital that was just coming out of receivership. He remembered seeing Pine Avenue Pier when his was a child and his family visited Long Beach. He wanted to see if you could still smell the ocean from the pier, but he found that the pier was gone. (1:45-3:48)... When Badenhausen was 6, his father died and his family moved to Illinois and lived with his grandmother. He attended DePaul and Loyola and Northwestern. He wanted to be a doctor, but his poor eyesight disqualified him from doing surgery. In those days, doctors had to do a little of everything; fewer specialized. (3:48-4:47)... Badenhuasen took a summer course and learned to take x-rays which he did at night and on weekends while he worked his way through college. He got most of his business education at Northwestern. When a Chicago hospital went into receivership, he was chosen to run it while it reorganized to reopen. Doctors in the area knew him because he'd taken x-rays in 3 local hospitals. He worked at reopening that hospital from 1930 to 1934. That when he came to vacation in Long Beach, but after 2 weeks he got tired of vacationing. Those 2 weeks were about the longest time he was ever out of work. (4:47-5:39)... In the early 1900s, Badenhausen's family visited Long Beach while they were living in Las Vegas and stayed in the old Julian Hotel. He caught his first fish from the Pine Avenue Pier. (5:39-9:39)... Badenhuasen saw the Harriman Jones clinic at 211 Cherry in Long Beach and thought that was the kind of place he'd like to work, so he sent a resume to Dr. Jones and soon he was hired. He continued to work there until 1972. The clinic included at 50 bed hospital. As time went on, it became clear that the hospital was too small to provide all of the required ancillary services. So they closed the hospital in 1960. They arranged for all of the hospital employees who wanted to transfer to Long Beach Community Hospital to do so without losing a day of work or their pension benefits. The hospital space was transformed into clinic space. (9:39-13:48)... Architect Kenneth Wing had designed the hospital and clinic for Dr. Jones. It was the first major building he designed, but it numbered the plans "100" because he didn't want to call it number "1." Wing consulted on and approved all subsequent renovations of the building. Bandenhausen wouldn't change the color of paint without Wing's approval. Wing also designed the reconstruction of Badenhuasen's home. Originally, they wanted to build the clinic on Signal Hill, at Cherry and Hill, but oil was discovered on the property. Badenhausen wrote the hospital publication, the Heraldectomy, until the hospital was closed on April 10, 1964. (13:48-15:45)... During the Depression, revenue from the oil wells on the originally selected hospital site helped to support the clinic. They also invested in a 4000 hectacre ranch in Mexico and Texas oil wells. Badenhausen supervised all of the office work, investments and hospital and clinic operations. As Dr. Jones became less active in handling his own business affairs, they landed in Badenhausen's office as well. (15:45-19:29)... Dr. Jones was a humanitarian, but he never wanted an personal publicity. He made sure that the clinic never turned down anyone who was sick and couldn't afford to pay for medical care. He believed people wanted to pay their bills and pay for medical care. The fees at the hospital were reasonable. (19:29-26:03)... Badenhausen says he has valuable historical documents. He was looking at a scrapbook as he talked about the Chamber of Commerce. Its members exercised political power when the Prisks ran the Press Telegram, and the Chamber had its total support. Prisk would not print the word "syphilis." When Hank Ridder took over the paper, the policy changed. Badenhausen served as president of the Chamber during the time they were fighting to stop subsidence. He has a copy of a letter from some people in the oil industry blasting the Chamber's policies on subsidence. If it hadn't been for subsidence, Pine Avenue wouldn't have become so run down, but insurance companies didn't want to lend money in areas where the land might sink even further. Badenhausen also served on a state committee that decided how to allocate money for hospitals under the Hill-Burton act. The federal government contributed one third, the state another third and local interests had to raise the final third. He was serving on this committee when Community Hospital wanted to build its Hatfield unit. He has a photo of the ground breaking for the unit; he's there with mayor George Vermillion. Governor Goodwin Knight appointed him to the committee and when Pat Brown became governor, he didn't reappoint him. When the person who took Badenhausen's place embezzled money, Badenhausen sent him a note asking if he were sorry for his appointment. End of tape *** File: cbgbadenhausen2.mp3 (0:00-1:57)... Virginia Davis, who was also present at the time of the interview, began working at the hospital on September 1, 1935. Clinic employees were treated like members of the family and they were loyal employees. Miss Muirhead, the clinic dietitian, went to the market everyday and individually selected every pea and bean for hospital meals. She brought the food to the hospital in the trunk of her car. Everything served was top quality. There was even Gorham silver tableware and covers to keep the food warm. At that point, if you were born at Harriman Jones hospital, you were socially acceptable in Long Beach. (1:57-3:57)... The decor of the hospital was chosen by Dr. Jones, including the soda fountain. The fountain was made of Philippine mahogany and had alabaster bowls. (3:57-9:06)... Badenhausen is still looking through his scrapbook. On May 12 they celebrated Hospital Day and invite all of the children born at the hospital to return for a party. They also had Christmas parties for employees and their children. The hospital had a patio that was just outside Badenhausen's office. The patio featured camellias and azaleas as well as a fish pond. Sea gulls would dive down and get fish out of the pond. All patients were given flowers when they checked into the hospital. In those days, most hospital floors had to be covered in linoleum, but Harriman Jones had carpets in the patients' rooms and the beds had wooden headboards. The rooms were heated and they all had private baths including bath tubs. There was also a library available for patients to use, but it was separated from the medical library that the doctors used. (9:06-11:22)... Badenhausen was still looking through his scrapbook. He and the hospital were involved in establishing programs to set standards for training hospital administrators. The doctor who wrote the first book about hospital administration was one of those who recommended Badenhausen to Dr. Jones for a job in Long Beach. (11:22-13:01)... Badenhausen worked at the clinic with 6 business managers in 3 years. They all had good relations with the other employees. They were an exceptional group. (13:01-15:12)... The hospital changed $35 for a complete physicial examination. They published the cost of other services and treatments. The hospital published a newsletter, the Heraldectomy. Badenhausen contributed an article every month and wrote about the birth of his daughter and grandchildren. (15:12-21:13)... Finally the hospital couldn't afford to offer service to patients and keep employees happy. There were studies of how much hospital service a community needed. One suggested that 4.5 hospital beds were needed for every 1,000 residents. The Department of Public Health at UC Berkeley developed models for needs as cities grew and as freeways were built. There were also licensing agencies for hospitals. Hospitals had to get permission to build, even if they only used their own money. (21:13-22:52)... There were no established rules and regulations for running hospitals and keeping equipment clean and sterilized. So they were established and accreditation commissions and agencies set up. They also standardized procedures for naming diseases and defining them. They tried to make sure that hospitals lived up to the same standards everywhere. There was also the expansion of medical insurance such as Blue Cross. (22:52-27:51)... Medical insurance, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, grew and changed. Blue Cross opened office in Los Angeles. As they sold more policies, they expanded their offices. They were making money on real estate as they sold smaller offices and moved to larger ones. Then the state ruled that health insurers couldn't be real estate investors. Health insurers tried out new policies and ways of doing things as their business grew. (27:51-30:33)... The Depression led to the creation of Blue Cross. It was started by a group of teachers in Texas. Hospitals in southern California then began experimenting with health insurance. It happened at about the same time that the Social Security Act was adopted although there was correlation between them. Rich Furman who ran California Hospital, one of the oldest in Los Angeles, talked to doctors in his area and Badenhausen talked to doctors outside Los Angeles. Some accused those who wanted to organize health insurance of acting like communists. They had to prove that health insurance would work. End of tape *** File: cbgbadenhausen3.mp3 (0:00-5:01)... Badenhausen was president of the Association of California Hospitals in 1953. Lots of people migrated to California after WWII. Hospitals worked together to gather statistics. Religious hospitals didn't want to give out this information at first. Eventually they agreed to cooperate. The economics of hospital administration led hospitals to work together and lobby for better laws. They cooperated with the Public Health League, which was composed of doctors and dentists. They also convinced health insurance companies, such as Blue Cross, to make sure regulations served the best interests of patients. (5:01-7:44)... Badenhausen was involved in gathering statistics about the cost of health care so they could determine the cost of insurance and set insurance rates. In was hard to get some hospitals to cooperate, but finally they all did. Health insurance costs were established in southern California. Then northern Californians borrowed the southern California figures. Later, health insurance companies in New Jersery also borrowed southern California figures. Although hospitals were cooperating in collecting statistics, there were so many different kinds of hospitals that it was difficult to apply formulas to all of them. (7:44-10:36)... Some hospitals were run by communities, some by government, some by universities. Some hospitals were charitable and some were run for profit. Some hospitals had programs to train nurses and other did not. Some hospitals were run by nuns, like St. Mary's in Long Beach. Long Beach Community Hospital was started from doctors from Seaside, but they established a different administrative structure at the new hospital. It was difficult for representatives of them to all work together in the planning process. (10:36-13:10)... The mother of Virginia Davis, who was also present at the interview, was on the board of Community Hospital. Her parents came to Long Beach in 1912 when she was only 6 months old. Her sisters went to Polytechnic High School and she went to St. Anthony. During WWI, her mother was head of the bond sales for the Red Cross. At the foot of Pine Avenue, they a platform with a big thermometer to hwo how many bonds had been sold. (13:10-15:39)... Dr. Jones had an office on Pine Avenue nexst to the Buffum building. He was Long Beach's first city health officer and the second Exaulted Ruler of the Elks. Seaside was Long Beach's first big hospital. Before that, there was a smaller one on Daisy and Dr. Jones was active in building the Long Beach Hospital at Tenth and Linden. (15:39-18:42)... Badenhausen was looking at an early photo of Seaside Hospital as he talked. Dr. Jones started giving immunizations there when he was city health officer. His family came from Mountain View and he graduated from Cooper which is now Stanford. He later worked with Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan and did further work in New York before coming to Long Beach. In his early days, Dr. Jones was quite a man about town. He stayed at the Virginia Hotel. Some of the furnishing in the clinic came from there. Dr. Jones was an excellent surgeon. In his early days, he may have had patients from Hollywood when Balboa Studios were operating in Long Beach. Their studio was back of St. Anthony. (18:42-20:21)... Dr. Jones nephew, Dr. F. Harriman Jones, became a partner in the business. He was a graduatre of Loma Linda University. The elder Dr. Jones began taking in younger partners as soon as he could. (20:21-24:20)... Dr. F. Harriman Jones was an excellent surgeon and his father was Charles Floyd Jones who ran the Pacific Press in Mountain View. Dr. F Harriman Jones became a missionary and, along with his wife, did a lot of work around the world. Dr. W. Harriman Jones lived to be 80 years old; he was born in 1876 and died in 1956. (24:20-27:43)... Dr. Jones belonged to El Rodeo Club which was a social club of well to do men. They ate finnan haddie, played cards and sometimes bet on them. Dr. Jones had a game room but they also met at other member's homes. Badenhausen had been working at the clinic for 10 days, when Dr. Jones invited him to his first meeting. At his first meeting, they played poker and he was winning money. He didn't know the other players and didn't know if they could afford to lose that money, so he decided to let them win it back before he left. Later he learned that all of the other players could afford to lose their money more easily than he could, but they let him lose to them anyhow. Badenhausen has an Exhausted Roosters plaque awarded to him as the outstanding member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1938-1939. At the time of the interview, some of the surviving members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce still get together every couple of months. End of tape (27:43-30:25)... He also belonged to the Exhausted Roosters and shows his plaque. He belonged to the Junior Chamber of Commerce from the 1930s. John Popp helped to come up with the idea for the Exhausted Roosters.
- Rights Note
- This repository item may be used for classroom presentations, unpublished papers, and other educational, research, or scholarly use. Other uses, especially publication in any form, such as in dissertations, theses, articles, or web pages are not permitted without the express written permission of the individual collection's copyright holder(s). Please contact the CSULB Library Administration should you require permission to publish or distribute any content from this collection or if you need additional information or assistance in using these materials: https://www.csulb.edu/university-library/form/questionssuggestions-the-digital-repository-group
Relationships
- In Collection:
Items
| Thumbnail | File information | Actions |
|---|---|---|
|
0555332795056946-cbgbadenhausen1.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
2302191572902636-cbgbadenhausen2.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
4322689724831522-cbgbadenhausen3.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
2257602705454376-cbgbadenhausen.jpg Public
|
Download |