Gyula Szentgáli

He became involved in regular hospital work while still a medical student: between 1945 and 1947 he worked at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic of the Medical University of Szeged (SZOTE). Between 1947 and 1950 he was an intern and then an assistant physician in the surgical department of the Szeged City Hospital. In 1951 he joined the professional staff of the Hungarian Armed Forces and served as a military doctor until 1956.

In 1957, he was a junior doctor in the surgical department of Székesfehérvár County Hospital, and then between 1957 and 1961, he was an assistant professor in the surgical department of Nagykőrös Hospital. In 1957, he received the title of honorary university associate professor (presumably from SZOTE).

In 1961, he was appointed as an independent director of the Szekszárd County Hospital (later the Tolna County Hospital Outpatient Clinic), where he worked until his death. During his tenure, new pavilions were built to replace the outdated buildings of the hospital he managed, but he also ensured the development of hospital equipment and the renewal of management, organization and control activities.

In 1965, he purchased a punched-card Hollerith machine for the hospital, and was the first in the country to launch the application of computer technology in the health care of hospitals. In 1975, they already had an R10 computer, when they participated in the development of a new, modern health information system on behalf of the Ministry of Health. To this end, they established (within the Hospital) a computer technology base institute called the Documentation and Information Center (DIK), which was initially led by him and then by Dr. András Jávor from 1979. The first Hungarian Hospital Information System (KIR) was developed in the DIK, one of the modules of which was the clinical reporting system operating in the II. Department of Internal Medicine, led by Dr. László Simon. – The information system also attracted recognition among foreign partners: the leaders of Humboldt University requested the handover of the system during their visit in 1979.

He was a member of the Computer Technology Subcommittee of the Ministry of Health and the secretary of one of its ad hoc committees. He organized numerous professional conferences and symposiums. He regularly invited domestic healthcare leaders and organizers to exchange experiences – he also often received foreign guests.

His awards: Gyula Hevesi Memorial Medal (Organization and Management Scientific Society, 1957); Gold Degree of the Order of Labor Merit (received for the second time in 1976); MOTESZ Memorial Medal (Association of Hungarian Medical Societies and Associations, 1979).