As part of the PWA expansion of the University of Arizona, an Infirmary was completed in May, 1936.
During World War I, in June, 1918, the Board of Regents purchased and equipped a ten-room house east of the university to be used as an infirmary. During the flu epidemic, classes were suspended and attention was directed toward the ill. In his annual report to the Board of Regents for that year, President von KleinSmid said that the acquisition of the infirmary building was "providential."
The university community, aided by physicians, nurses and Red Cross workers from Tucson, saw to the care of the stricken. According to Douglas D. Martin, "Supplies of bed sox, pneumonia jackets, night shirts, and sweaters as well as quantities of delicacies were furnished without charge. Faculty members worked as nurses, staffed a diet kitchen, and fumigated quarters. Some carried hot coffee to sentries who patrolled the campus at night."
The epidemic was relatively light on the UA campus. Two soldiers died. No flu cases were experienced among women students and only a few among the men. The new PWA Infirmary became the Student Health Center in 1964. Its original cost was $33,720. It was designed by Roy Place and built by M. M. Sundt.
Place and Place were architects for the 1964 addition, when the infirmary became the Student Health Center and Sundt was the contractor. The addition cost $356,226.
A 1967 addition and alterations cost $46,360 and alterations to the basement were made in 1971 at a cost of $14,537. The center is located on the southeast corner of Cherry and the northern street of the east university mall.