Our History

The roots of CU Anschutz’ health science programs stretch back to the School of Medicine opening in Old Main at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1883, with the College of Nursing following 15 years later in 1898 and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy in 1913.

In the 1920s the university's health programs continued to grow, requiring a move from Boulder into a quadrangle of four brick buildings at Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver to better serve both students and the community. On October 1, 1924, the School of Medicine and School of Nursing opened on the new Denver campus – eventually known as the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The construction and move were joined by the creation of Colorado General Hospital, the forerunner to today’s UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. The creation of an integrated health campus brought major accolades at the time – the newspaper Boulder Daily Camera described the new facilities as “one of the world’s best and most modern.”  

World events would bring challenges in the following years. The Great Depression affected state budgets for higher education, impacting both faculty and student opportunities. Soon after, World War II broke out and the university would serve in helping win the war while also working to combat the injustices of the time. Dean of Nursing Henrietta Adams Loughran and Colorado Governor Ralph Carr worked together to enroll west coast Japanese-American nursing students to help them avoid internment and continue their education. 

Meanwhile, the current site of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora was known as General Hospital 21, founded as a military hospital by the U.S. Army during the First World War to treat soldiers suffering from tuberculosis and other lung diseases. It was renamed to honor Lieutenant William Thomas Fitzsimons, the first US Army officer killed in World War I.

To continue providing help in treating tuberculosis and other medical conditions on a larger scale, a new main hospital building was constructed. The hospital was dedicated on December 3, 1941, and following the outbreak of the Second World War, as one of the largest and most modern military hospitals in the country, the Fitzsimons campus played a key role in caring for sick and wounded soldiers during the war.

The Fitzsimons campus has even provided care to the Commander in Chief. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack at Fitzsimons. As his health improved, he often went to the large eighth-floor sundeck where he used binoculars to observe the mountains.

As the Fitzsimons hospital continued to provide innovative care for members of the armed services through the second half of the 20th century, CU health programs broke new ground. An increase in federal funding for the National Institutes of Health following World War II – which expanded from $3 million after the war to over $50 million in a few short years – was a major boon to the health sciences, particularly at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. 

This investment in health research helped to bring a series of firsts and discoveries for several disciplines throughout the mid 20th century alongside more full time faculty. While known as a leader in pulmonary treatment at the time, CU faculty and researchers pioneered in areas such as: open heart surgeries, revolutionary work in B-mode ultrasound imaging – which led to the current techniques and technology of today – the first ever liver transplant, innovative child welfare research and critical advancements in public health policy. 

Alongside these breakthroughs, the university positioned itself as a leader in teaching new generations of health science students. The School of Nursing launched the first nurse practitioner program in the country in 1965 and the School of Dentistry opened in 1973 – the only dental school in the Rocky Mountain region at the time. These new programs, their students and high profile faculty continued a decades-rich history of health sciences education, research and discoveries at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. What followed was the expansion of the faculties and disciplines across the university, creating a strong foundation for a research and education ecosystem – that extends to the present day.

By the late 1990s, however, the sustained success and growth at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center ran into space limitations as the city of Denver had grown around the campus. A new home would be needed to continue to provide new transformative health discoveries for Colorado and the world.

At the same time, the Fitzsimons Army campus was slated for closure by the military, as many of its functions had moved to Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

Noting the historical importance of a major health center in Colorado and envisioning the promise and potential of centralizing and connecting health education, care and research on a single campus, local, state and university leaders worked together with the goal of transforming the historic military medical center in Aurora into an innovative health sciences community by moving the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and its schools and colleges to the land.

In 2006, the Fitzsimons campus, the eventual new home for the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, was renamed the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in recognition of more than $90 million in donations from The Anschutz Foundation to help in the construction of brand new education, research and patient care facilities on the grounds.

Two years later, the academic and research operations of all CU health sciences schools and colleges relocated to the new campus on the former army base grounds. This move also included the founding of a brand new School of Public Health for the state; founded as a collaborative venture between the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado. UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado also joined in the move to the Anschutz Medical Campus, to realize the vision of a fully integrated health sciences campus. 

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus footprint has also enabled pivots to meet the health science needs and challenges of the 21st century. The Anschutz Health Sciences Building, completed in 2021, was designed specifically to drive collaboration across discipline areas – particularly in translational health science research, mental and behavioral health, education and personalized clinical care. Alongside the Anschutz Health Sciences Building, the Bioscience facilities and Fitzsimons Innovation Community continue generating new forms of collaboration between our faculty and researchers and industry partners. 

Despite all the changes across the decades, the campus has never lost its spirit of service. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, every member of campus – faculty, students and staff – contributed to the pandemic response. From treating patients, to vaccine development and trials, to helping state and national leaders with data and policy, alongside support operations to keep the campus operational, CU Anschutz collectively responded to save lives and deliver hope and healing. 

Through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, CU Anschutz remains committed to the Colorado community it has called home for nearly 150 years. Driven by a mission to solve the most pressing problems in health, CU Anschutz is committed to addressing disparities in healthcare, improving community health through strong local partnerships and expanding education opportunities for students of all ages.