The need for a medical campus came following the affiliation of the Illinois Medical College, Reliance Medical College, and the Bennett Medical College with Loyola in 1910. In 1917 Loyola acquired the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery, finally providing a home for the new school. Loyola's School of Medicine stayed at this location, which was in the medical district close to Cook County Hospital, or the next 50 years.

In the 1920s, Loyola acquired a dental school when the Chicago College of Dental Surgery proposed an affiliation with the university. A full merger with the university ocurred in 1923. The dental school was originally located close to the medical campus on Harrison Street, where it remained until relocating to the Health Sciences Campus in 1969.

The Loyola University School of Nursing was established in 1935following the merger of five affiliated hospital nursing schools - St. Bernard, St. Anne, St. Elizabeth, Oak Park, and Columbus - merged with the university. Nursing students attended classes on the Lake Shore Campus, but continued to do their clinical work at affiliated hospitals.

In 1965, ground was broken on a new medical center at Maywood, Illinois. In addition to a hospital, the new health sciences campus became the home of the Stritch School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, and the School of Nursing when they moved there from their original buildings in 1967 and 1969. 

More information on the Health Sciences Campus can be found in Loyola University Chicago by Kathryn A. Young and Ashley Howdeshell (The Campus History Series, Arcadia Publishing, 2020). Available at https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467105590 .