It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and is situated in proximity to the Blackburn Building of the university’s main campus. RPAH is the largest hospital in the Sydney Local Health District, with approximately 700 beds (circa 2005). Following a $350 million redevelopment, the perinatal hospital King George V Memorial Hospital has been incorporated into it.

An Australian television documentary, RPA, was filmed there from 1995 to 2012, depicting the everyday workings of a major metropolitan hospital.