Way back in 1707, the first hospital in Calcutta was built in the premises of the Old Fort at Gerstein Place. The Council of Fort William constructed this hospital. This hospital, initially built for the Europeans, was then known as Presidency Hospital. The hospital was accommodated in a single storied building. Later, in 1768, two houses were purchased in Lower Circular Road for converting them into a full fledged hospital. Located near the Presidency Jail, the hospital came to be known as Presidency General Hospital. Doors were opened to the non-European patients from 2nd April 1770. The Presidency General Hospital was best known as PG Hospital till 1954 when it was named in the Independent India, as Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital. The naming was done to commemorate the name of the great donor Sukhlal Karnani. People started addressing the Hospital as SSKM Hospital.
