In 1883 the Scuola di Applicazione di Sanità Militare, equipped with a bacteriological laboratory, was founded. In 1888 it was flanked by a museum of anatomy and traumatology. In 1900 a museum of hygiene and cabinets of dental surgery and otorhinolaryngology were established. During World War I the institution was converted into a Military Hospital and, in 1993, assumed its present name.

The Centre, which will soon be moved to Rome, has a collection of medical-pharmaceutical instruments from the 19th and 20th centuries (around 1,000 objects). A good part of the material was originally used for teaching purposes in the Scuola di Sanità Militare. Subsequently, other instruments were salvaged to keep them from being dispersed. Most of the objects are kept in rooms designated to this purpose, while some are found in the cloister inside the building located in Via Venezia.