The hospital is a tertiary referral centre which offers a variety of medical, surgical and mental health specialities.

[4] Though located very centrally on the edge of the CBD, the suburb beyond, Fitzroy, had some of poorest areas in the city, and the site had been deliberately selected by the founding sisters of the hospital, with many of the poorer residents taking advantage of the advent of a charitable hospital opening up on their doorstep.

A private hospital section known as Mt St Evins was built in 1911 on the eastern corner of Victoria Parade and Fitzroy Street.

In the early 70s, the private hospital wing was replaced by a larger one, and a medical suites building was built on the west corner of Fitzroy Street c1980.

In the early 1990s, the convent was demolished and replaced by a new high-rise block, known as the Inpatient Services Building, completed in 1995.

St Vincent's Health operates a mental health ward and an Enhanced Crisis Assessment & Treatment Team & Triage Service (ECATT) that assesses patients in the Emergency Department and manages patients with acute psychiatric disorders who are a potential risk to themselves or others in the community.