Big Bend Regional Medical Center is the sole provider for a geographic area of 19,000 square miles and 20,000 residents, as well as over one million tourists who come to the area's national and state parks annually.

A system of five hospital-based Rural Health Clinics reaches out to the areas not close enough to Alpine for routine health care. A significant population of federal employees relies on the hospital for emergency and acute care services.

The hospital also provides student health services for Sul Ross State University. Teleradiology and Telemedicine help overcome the isolation of distance from major medical centers in Midland-Odessa, 150 miles away and El Paso, 220 miles away.