The University of Colorado created the Department of Medicine and Surgery in September 1883 in the Old Main building on the Boulder campus.

[12][15] This eventually became the modern University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (the Anschutz Medical Campus in the long run).

In 1995, Fitzsimons Army Medical Center was put on the Base Realignment and Closure list by Congress.

U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs Hospital broke ground in August 2009 but the projected opening date in 2013 was missed.

[27] In 2014, the half-finished hospital was hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and the Veterans Administration (VA) was found to have breached its contract with the construction company.

Civilian Board of Contract Appeals declared the project had grown outside the scope of the Congress-approved budget due to the unrealistic expectations of the VA.[28] In July 2018, following those delays, the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center opened.

[32] In 1986, the School of Pharmacy was administratively transferred to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.

The physical transfer from Boulder and final consolidation of faculty, staff and students was completed between August and November 1992.

[39] The core laboratories in the research complex, at the Anschutz Medical Campus, include mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, a 900 mega-hertz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, flow cytometry, DNA array and peptide protein chemistry.

[40] Academic programs on the campus feature in a number of rankings in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools, 2019.

[41] The Anschutz campus hosts administrative and teaching functions, as well as clinical and research programs with nearly 25,000 faculty, employees, and support staff.

[45] The north part of campus consists of two bioscience buildings, which includes the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility.

[49] The facility includes collection storage with a reading room as well as indoor and outdoor private and team study spaces, administrative offices, reference services, classrooms, a conference center, a learning resource center, systems-database support, education and health informatics support, and a rare materials collection.

[50] A series of distinct quadrangular zones on the campus governs its architectural design: the research quadrangle, consisting of the three Research Complex towers, features a contemporary glass and metal design, Research Complex I and II were designed by Fentress Architects in association with Kling Stubbins; the education quadrangle is characterized by a brick aesthetic; and the core quadrangle is located on the central axis of the campus, and anchored by Building 500.

[54] The combined 578-acre (2.3 km2)[55] of the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Life Science District is undergoing a $4.3 billion renovation and transformation into the largest medical-related redevelopment project in the United States.

[56] The 184-acre (0.7 km2) Fitzsimons Innovation Community[57] in Aurora is being developed north and adjacent of the health sciences areas of campus,[58] providing opportunities to collaborate with biotechnology companies and their resources.

[16] The remaining acres of the former military facility are dedicated to commercial, hospitality, retail, and residential development.

Children's Hospital Colorado is affiliated with the CU School of Medicine and offers pediatric medical training programs.

[67] The Anschutz Health Sciences Building began construction in January 2019 and officially opened on December 27, 2021.