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[MenacesWithSpikes]

Where in a fortress is the best place to put a hospital?

In the past, I put one in the very first level beneath the surface.  At the time the hospital was built, goblin ambushes/sieges were the greatest threat to the fort.

Of course, much later, I found that syndroming dwarves will head right up from the caverns to said hospital and spread infected blood and forgotten beast extract everywhere as they do.  Obviously this is undesirable.

Are there any bugs/issues associated with having two or more hospitals?  Do injured dwarves simply head to the nearest one?

If I get syndroming dwarves in the caverns again, I think I'll just isolate them down there to die of thirst (or the syndrome, if it gets them first).  I would like to hear opinions about hospital placement, though.

[knutor]

I like to overlap my hospital with my new migrant dorms.  So beds are not wasted.  Best location, prolly near a well.  In the safety burrow, injured dwarfs don't move so good, when danger alerts are issued.

[MenacesWithSpikes]

I'm considering having one walled-in/ceiling'd hospital outdoors, and another just above the caverns.  The parts of the fortress that I'm most anxious to protect (at this point) from syndrome spread are in the underground Z-levels that are above the caverns.

[NTJedi]

I'm considering having one walled-in/ceiling'd hospital outdoors, and another just above the caverns.  The parts of the fortress that I'm most anxious to protect (at this point) from syndrome spread are in the underground Z-levels that are above the caverns.

Based on the current game this is probably the best method, but remember to provide plenty of wells.  I say current game because once siege attacks and monsters and break walls and tunnel to reach our dwarves this would be dangerous for the wounded.
Currently the cleaning of blood is poorly done within the game, even with many wells.  I wish I could have a dedicated dwarf janitor in the game.  Another problem is the blood just never fades away even after seasons are passing.

[Finn]

  I wish I could have a dedicated dwarf janitor in the game.  Another problem is the blood just never fades away even after seasons are passing.

Apologies, it has been a while since I've played, but can't you have a Dwarf with just the cleaning labor enabled?

[Uristocrat]

I tend to put it a few levels down, near the bedrooms.  Concerning syndromes, you want to set up some dwarven bathtubs and force anyone coming in from the surface (or the caverns) to use them.  You can also put one outside the hospital itself if you like to prevent blood from getting everywhere.  The wiki has good info:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Cleaning

[NTJedi]

  I wish I could have a dedicated dwarf janitor in the game.  Another problem is the blood just never fades away even after seasons are passing.

Apologies, it has been a while since I've played, but can't you have a Dwarf with just the cleaning labor enabled?

By default the dwarves already have cleaning labor enabled, but will only clean areas they frequently travel.  Thus if you have a jail or tomb with areas of blood stains the 20 idle dwarves will remain idle and not pay any attention to those stains or other stains in the fort.  Sometimes people use meeting areas to help clean blood stains.

[MenacesWithSpikes]

Additional question:  Is it possible to have a hospital that spans more than one Z-level?  Like an aboveground 'hospital tower?'

[knutor]

Nope, unlike piles, activity zones, are 1 z level thick.  Be cool, maybe suggest this.

[Maynot]

I like to put my hospital right next to the stockpiles with the splints, cloth, thread, etc.  That way the medics have less to travel for supplies.  Whenever I have tried stocking the hospital with these materials, the medics would ignore them and grab the items from my stockpile.

[i2amroy]

  I wish I could have a dedicated dwarf janitor in the game.  Another problem is the blood just never fades away even after seasons are passing.

Apologies, it has been a while since I've played, but can't you have a Dwarf with just the cleaning labor enabled?

By default the dwarves already have cleaning labor enabled, but will only clean areas they frequently travel.  Thus if you have a jail or tomb with areas of blood stains the 20 idle dwarves will remain idle and not pay any attention to those stains or other stains in the fort.  Sometimes people use meeting areas to help clean blood stains.

The most reliable way to clean areas (though at an extreme happiness penalty to 1-2 dwarves, so make sure you have some other way of making them happy) is to set a dwarf so that it's only labors are cleaning, and then burrow it on top of the stain. Eventually they will clean it up, and once they reach dehydrated/starving they will leave the burrow to go get food IIRC.

[vorpal+5]

or, as the feature is clearly bugged since some years, you can use DFHack to fix the problem.