Royal Adelaide Hospital

The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) is Adelaide's largest hospital, with 680 beds. Founded in 1840, the Royal Adelaide provides tertiary health care services for South Australia and provides secondary care clinical services to residents of Adelaide's city centre and inner suburbs.

The hospital is situated in the Adelaide Park Lands on the north side of North Terrace between Frome Road and the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. It neighbours the Adelaide Zoo, and both the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. The land which it covers is also home to the Adelaide Medical School, the Adelaide Dental Hospital, The Hanson Institute and the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science.

In June 2007, plans were unveiled by the State Government to build a new central hospital for Adelaide to replace the Royal Adelaide Hospital. To be completed in 2016, the new hospital will be built on the railyards in the Adelaide Park Lands on the north side of North Terrace, between Morphett Street and West Terrace. The State Government plans that the current Royal Adelaide Hospital will close when the new hospital is completed, and some of the land currently occupied by the hospital will be return to the Park Lands and incorporated into the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The new hospital will have 800 beds (700 overnight, 100 same day), an increase from 680 beds (650 overnight and 30 same day) on the current site.