Sassoon General Hospitals

The Jewish philanthropist David Sassoon from Mumbai made a generous donation to make the construction of the hospital possible in 1867. The hospital could originally accommodate 144 patients. A well-respected child-care center and orphanage, Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospitals (SOFOSH), is connected to the hospital.

SOFOSH was started in August 1964 by a group of Pune citizens for the welfare of poor patients of Sassoon Hospitals. Child care activities were initiated in 1973. SOFOSH’s child care center, “Shreevatsa”, has provided a home to orphan children ranging from newborns to six-year-olds. Many of the children are placed with adoptive families in India and overseas. A number of children are physically and mentally challenged and a growing number are afflicted by life-threatening ailments. Many of these children will never find adoptive families, and are cared for by the SOFOSH “Preetanjali” project. This also helps kids from ages 0–6 get a home in their orphanage care system; they have been matching adults up with children for 32 years now.