The Jewish philanthropist David Sassoon from Mumbai made a generous donation to make the construction of the hospital possible in 1867.

SOFOSH was started in August 1964 by a group of Pune citizens for the welfare of poor patients of Sassoon Hospitals.

SOFOSH's child care center, "Shreevatsa", has provided a home to orphan children ranging from newborns to six-year-olds.

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.