With funding secured and a new building design in place, construction began in 1962 of the new University Medical Center, later known as the School of Medicine Building 521.

The Medical Center opened on July 10, 1965. It was a seven story, 500,000 square foot E-shaped building. The three ‘arms’ of the E ran east-west. The northernmost arm contained a 220-bed hospital. The center arm contained the clinical departments, and the southern arm contained the basic science departments.

The University of Utah broke ground in October 2022 on the new state-of-the-art home for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. Demolition of the School of Medicine Building 521 is occurring simultaneously to the construction of its replacement.