It also functioned as a teaching hospital for medical and dental students, in conjunction with the University of Adelaide[8] (a partnership which has continued to the present day).

Its campus was also home to the University of Adelaide's Medical School and the Hanson Institute and SA Pathology.

[12][13] After completion of the new building in 2017, a phased move to the new premises took place, and the old site was designated Lot Fourteen, with various plans mooted regarding its redevelopment, including a space hub.

[19] More than 6,000 staff are expected to work at the hospital,[16][needs update] and all rooms are single patient suites with private bathroom facilities.

[20] The building is technologically advanced, with a fleet of automated robotic vehicles to help move supplies, meals and equipment around the hospital, and a tailor-made patient electronic medical record.

Orientation of the buildings is optimised to minimise solar thermal loads, with extensive daylight penetration to reduce artificial lighting requirements.

[22] The new RAH forms the largest part of Adelaide's emerging biomedical precinct called BioMed City.

[23][24][25] SAHMRI is building a $300 million second facility due to be completed by 2022 to house the Australian Bragg Centre with Australia's first proton therapy unit.

The RAH is the second oldest diving and hyperbaric facility in Australia, and has been responsible for co-ordinating the Divers Emergency Service (DES), a telephone-based consultation service for diving-related matters within Australia, the Southern Pacific and Southeast Asia.