Diseases treated included typhoid, diphtheria, cholera, smallpox, poliomyelitis and scarlet fever, and in its final years, HIV/AIDS became very prominent.

[4] The Colonial Government began discussing the idea of constructing a hospital to treat patients with infectious diseases.

[3] Plans for an infectious diseases hospital were again considered in 1874 however no significant moves were made until 1897,[3] the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Funds for operating the hospital were drawn from Melbourne, Fitzroy, Richmond, St. Kilda, Brunswick and Coburg councils.

In 1918 Melbourne and Sydney's ports were placed under quarantine in an attempt to avoid the introduction into Australia of the Spanish Influenza epidemic which was claiming thousands of lives around the world.

[6] While the quarantine had some effect in limiting the introduction of the disease to Australia, the first cases were eventually diagnosed and patients were hospitalised, causing a sharp rise in intake figures.

Six new wooden respirators were developed and installed by Aubrey Burstall, the Professor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne, with 23 more to follow shortly after.

After the Second World War, the mass production of penicillin and other antibiotics enabled a decline in several infectious diseases.

[9] A virology laboratory was established at Fairfield Hospital in 1950 to undertake clinical, diagnostic and research services for the many patients with viral infections.

Under the guidance of Dr Alan Ferris (1950–1970) and Professor Ian Gust (1970–1990), Fairfield gained a worldwide reputation for education, research and treatment.

Macfarlane Burnet, a Nobel Laureate had been appointed Honorary Consultant Epidemiologist at Fairfield Hospital in 1946, a position he held until his death in 1985.

In November 1983, Fairfield's Professor Ian Gust began a collaboration with Dr Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute in Paris to develop tests to detect HIV infection.

As a result of their success, the Fairfield Hospital Laboratory began regular testing of Australian blood products in 1984, several months before the rest of the world.

An area of river frontage owned by Collingwood Council was initially proposed, however it was eventually decided that a site on hospital grounds was more appropriate.

As part of the agreement to purchase the bulk of the former hospital's site, NMIT accepted responsibility for the care and maintenance of the garden.

In September 1991 the Report of the Reviews of Infectious Diseases in Victoria authored by the Victorian Health Department under Premier Joan Kirner recommended the relocation of HIV/AIDS services to The Alfred Hospital.

Redevelopment of the site was halted in September 2001 when workers found vials of E. coli and other bacteria in the ceiling of one of the buildings.