Viceroy of India, the Marquess of Linlithgow, visited Kashmir in 1940 and laid foundation of State hospital at the estate of the Hadow Mills Carpet Factory.

[2] In 1959, Government Medical College was also established on the same campus giving the medical students opportunity to examine the patients of the hospital during their undergraduate and post graduate courses to gain experience and practical knowledge.

The students of the college under proper supervision visit the hospital for the treatment of patients.

[2] During the September 2014 floods, the hospital was damaged and people suffered enormously due to scarcity of medic facilities.

[3] The ophthalmology department at the SMHS Hospital has treated more than a thousand pellet gun victims of Indian police shootings, from July 2016 till June 2018.