Sassoon Hospital
| Sassoon Hospital | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| Coordinates | 18°32′00″N 73°52′38″E / 18.5334°N 73.8772°ECoordinates: 18°32′00″N 73°52′38″E / 18.5334°N 73.8772°E |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in India |
Sassoon General Hospital (Marathi: ससून सर्वसाधारण रुग्णालय) is a large state-run hospital in Pune, India with over 1500 beds. The B. J. Medical College, Pune and a Nurses training School is attached to it.
The Jewish philanthropist David Sassoon from Mumbai made a generous donation to make the construction of the hospital possible in 1867. [1] 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. [2] 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.
Famous Patients
- Meher Baba was born in Sassoon Hospital on 25 February 1894.
- Mahatma Gandhi was operated upon on 12 January 1925 for an eventful emergency appendectomy in Sassoon Hospital. Though he made an uneventful recovery, his operation had more than its share of glitches. The electricity in the OR failed; a torch was brought in which got fused; Surgeon Col. Maddock completed the operation in the light of a kerosene lamp.
- Hazrat Babajan was treated at Sassoon Hospital on 18 September 1931. [3]