With a population of nearly 20,000, Lincoln County offers many larger-town amenities in a smaller-community environment, including: Five public school districts throughout the area and a branch campus of Eastern New Mexico University that offers associate degree and various certificate programs. Nestled between the tall pines and mountain vistas at an elevation of 6,900 feet, Ruidoso is home to Presbyterian Lincoln County Medical Center, which has served the community and surrounding areas since 1950, when the facility first opened as the Ruidoso-Hondo Valley General Hospital.