The year was 1937. A young doctor who was emotionally moved by people suffering with tuberculosis and other lung ailments dedicated his life to the task of helping these people. This was an age when no proper treatment was available and TB patients were ostracized by society. Not many doctors dared to treat these patients for fear of contracting the disease themselves. It is in this situation that Dr. Mathuram Santosham. A young man of 24 found "The LungClinic", the forerunner of the Santosham Chest Hospital.

As Dr. Santosham's, fame grew and there was a lot of opposition to his treating TB patients within the city and moreover almost all his patients needed hospitalization, which was not possible at the Lung Clinic. In 1945, about 50 acres of land was purchased in a forest area near Tambaram in the outskirts of the city and the Abraham Santosham Memorial Tuberculosis Sanatorium was founded (in the memory of the founder's father). A very bold venture for one so young. Complicated cases that were given up by others were taken up by Dr. Santosham and cured purely out of dedication hardwork and piety. Meanwhile the lung clinic continued as an outpatient centre.

To learn more about the techniques of the treatment of tuberculosis, Dr. Santosham left for the U.S.A. for a stint of training at the famous Bellevue hospital's chest centre. Dr. Santosham progressed not only in medical practice but also in a host of social and non-medical activity.

The introduction of Chemotherapy was a great boon to the treatment of tuberculosis and the Sanatorium. As days went by the need for complicated surgery for the treatment of Tuberculosis was felt. Meanwhile Dr. Santosham's sons had qualified to be specialists, one a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, one a Respiratory Physician and the other a Radiologist. The Santosham chest hospital was given away to a school for retarded children and the present Santosham Chest Hospital in the site of the old Lung Clinic was built securing a few buildings around it. This was opened in 1976 and has undergone many upgradations since.