The University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health) is a member of the Illinois Medical District, one of the largest urban healthcare, educational, research, and technology districts in the USA.

The OCC houses all subspecialty and general medicine outpatient services and the Women's Health Center.

Two years prior, in 1917, the State of Illinois had acquired the vacated Chicago Cubs Park located at Polk and Wolcott, which in turn was used by the University of Illinois to build two new medical college buildings and the hospital.

In September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, several hundred nurses and workers participated in the 2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes.

The University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System was ranked as the 5th best hospital in the Chicago metropolitan area according to the U.S. News & World Report America's Best Hospitals report[3] and ranked among the best in the nation in: diabetes and endocrinology (#44); cancer (oncology); otolaryngology; gynecology; nephrology (kidney disorders); neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopaedics; pulmonology; and urology.